Max Verstappen Tops Tight FP3 As Liam Lawson Crashes Again

Max Verstappen set the fastest time in a red-flagged Free Practice 3 session at the 2025 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix.

McLaren’s Lando Norris was the early pacesetter on mediums, registering a 1m31.021s in the first 15 minutes. Red Bull’s Verstappen and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton eventually came closest to that benchmark on the yellow-walled tyres, lapping in 1m31.358s and 1m31.448s respectively.

Despite daytime conditions, which are not fully representative of the nocturnal qualifying and race, the teams mostly focused on one-lap pace ahead of this afternoon, with grid position more important at the Marina Bay Street Circuit than at other tracks.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli was the first driver in the 1m30s with the soft rubber, having lapped in 1m30.760s before being surpassed by Charles Leclerc’s 1m30.651s, Norris’ 1m30.292s and Verstappen’s 1m30.148s.

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Championship leader Oscar Piastri came within 0.017s of Verstappen’s marker on his final attempt, on a weekend when McLaren can win the constructors’ championship for a second season in a row.

George Russell completed the top three with a 0.049s deficit, as the Mercedes driver lamented a lack of confidence in Turn 16, where he suffered a “weird” crash in FP2.

Antonelli and Norris set the exact same time of 1m30.237s for fourth and fifth, followed by Carlos Sainz, Isack Hadjar, Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg. The top nine therefore featured seven different teams within half a second, with Haas, Aston Martin and Alpine further down.

George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

Liam Lawson caused a red flag 15 minutes into the session when he lost control of his Racing Bulls on the Turn 7 exit kerb, subsequently crashing into the outside wall. The Italian team now faces a race against time to fix his car ahead of qualifying, with obvious wing and suspension damage.

A potential red-flag infringement by Hamilton will be investigated by the stewards after the session.

Other than Lawson’s off, the main driving errors in the session included Franco Colapinto, Sainz and Alex Albon all harmlessly taking to the escape road at Turn 14.