Hamilton began the session on the Medium compound before switching to the Soft. The same approach was adopted by Charles Leclerc, Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto. The rest of the field used only the C4. The polesitter used four new sets of Soft tyres and posted the fastest lap of the day on his final flying run, improving his personal benchmark in the final sector.

The highest temperatures of the day were recorded during the third free practice session, with track temperatures reaching 54°C before dropping as cloud cover moved in. All three compounds were used in FP3, although the majority of drivers focused their work on the C4.

Charles Leclerc was the only driver to run the Hard compound before switching to a new set of Softs. Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar used the Medium, with the reigning World Champion setting his best time on the C3.

The top three drivers all recorded their fastest laps on the red-marked tyre. Kimi Antonelli was quickest with a time of 1:36.302, Verstappen finished second in 1:36.580, while his team-mate Hadjar ended the session third in 1:36.860.

The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented by Alvin Chong, a popular Malaysian actor and singer. He is well known in both the Malaysian and Chinese entertainment industries.

DARIO MARRAFUSCHI – PIRELLI MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR

“Track conditions improved progressively throughout the day, allowing the Soft compound to deliver a very competitive level of performance in qualifying. Despite this, lap times remained significantly slower than those predicted by the simulations, indicating that the track evolution was not sufficient to close the gap.

In the attempt to extract the maximum potential from the C4 immediately, the degradation generated on the compound meant that no genuinely competitive laps could be completed after the first flying lap today. At the same time, in yesterday’s running it demonstrated that it can maintain an acceptable level of consistency over race distances when it is brought gradually into its correct operating window over the opening laps. This characteristic could prove particularly important tomorrow, given the number of Soft sets retained by several teams.

Tomorrow’s Grand Prix looks especially interesting from a strategic perspective. Most drivers have two sets of Hard tyres available, which should provide a solid option for the longer stints thanks to their greater thermal resistance and lower degradation compared to the softer compounds. On paper, the Medium-Hard-Hard and Soft-Hard-Hard combinations appear to be among the most competitive.

There are, however, some particular situations, such as those of Verstappen and Leclerc, who each have only one set of C2 tyres available and may therefore consider different approaches, making greater use of the Soft and Medium compounds or even evaluating three-stop strategies. In this scenario, the range of possibilities becomes much broader, with shorter stints and increased flexibility.

By contrast, we are unlikely to see one-stop strategies, which on paper offer no advantage in terms of total race time at a circuit where overtaking remains possible at several points around the track. Finally, there remains an element of uncertainty related to the weather, with a chance of rain that could influence the teams’ strategic choices.”

For the third race in a row, a Ferrari won – this time with Sebastian Vettel, from third on the grid. The German used pit stop strategy to get ahead of his pole-sitting team mate Charles Leclerc, who finished second. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen completed the podium, with the top seven all using the same tyre strategy in a tactically complex and physically demanding race, slowed down by three safety car periods.

KEY MOMENTS

• The top nine on the grid all started on the soft tyre, with everyone else on medium, apart from Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly who started from P11 on the hard and eventually finished eighth.
• Vettel took advantage of an ‘undercut’, stopping before his team mate to move into the effective lead of the race. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton – who was jumped by Verstappen at the pit stops – adopted a different strategy, with a longer first stint and carefully-controlled pace to the finish, where he was classified fourth.
• Pace management was seen in the first half of the race, which meant that the outcome was only finally decided in the closing stages of the grand prix.
• Singapore kept up its 100% safety car record, with three safety car periods in the second half of the race influencing the action.
• Both Renault drivers were forced into alternative strategies, with Daniel Ricciardo starting from last on the grid, and Nico Hulkenberg pitting for hards on the opening lap after some contact. McLaren’s Carlos Sainz was in a similar situation, also switching to hards on lap one.
• Although the frontrunners adopted the same strategy, there was a very big variety of tactics in the midfield, with a number of different one-stoppers and two-stoppers used.

HOW EACH TYRE PERFORMED

• HARD C3: Every driver used the hard, which proved to be a crucial race tyre that enabled some very long stints, especially with Gasly, Hulkenberg and Sainz.
• MEDIUM C4: Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi completed a long first stint on this compound to move into the race lead as those ahead of him stopped.
• SOFT C5: The longest first stint on this compound was completed by Hamilton, with some degree of management needed on them in the first part of the race.

MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF F1 AND CAR RACING

“It was a really interesting grand prix, with tyre strategy a key element. We saw plenty of pace management in the first half of the race, with drivers saving fuel and tyres for later in this very long grand prix: especially as the safety car wipes out any big advantage instantly. Managing the tyres in anticipation of the safety car proved to be a key element of the race, and the three safety car periods also had the effect of minimising tyre wear and degradation. With Singapore being a track that requires a lot of traction from the rear tyres, the set-up tends to place big demands on the front of the car, in order to protect the rear. In spite of that, we’re happy with the levels of wear and degradation seen today. For the frontrunners, soft-hard turned out to be the optimal strategy, used by the top seven, but all three compounds played an important role in the race today and there were plenty of different strategies. Congratulations to Sebastian Vettel, Charles Leclerc and Ferrari for a spectacular double podium at a spectacular race.”