Ahead of today's sole practice session, the air temperature is 32 degrees C, while the track temperature is 53 degrees. It is very, very dusty and smoggy. There is a 5% chance of rain.
As previously reported, Russell will start from the back of the grid on Sunday after taking on a new engine. However, as this is not the latest ADUO upgrade it means another engine further down the line and another grid penalty.
Furthermore, as Mercedes continues to investigate why last weekend's upgrade package didn't have the anticipated effect, Antonelli will run the upgraded car while Russell reverts to the older Baku-spec version. The British driver is said to be fully in agreement with the decision.
Upgrades are kept to the minimum this weekend, understandable considering it's a Sprint, indeed only three of the teams have them.
McLaren has a new circuit specific Front Corner. According to the Woking team, to meet the high brake cooling demands of this and upcoming circuits, a new front brake duct aimed at increased brake cooling massflow has been designed.
Mercedes has a new Front Wing and Front Wing Endplate, both for improved performance. The front wing features a change in chord distribution between three wing elements; switch to two element SM, while the endplate and footplate have been adjusted to accommodate this and the diveplane camber adjusted. The change in chordwise and spanwise loading, results in improved performance across the operating envelope, including improved front tyre wake control.
Finally, Red Bull has a new Front Wing and Rear Wheel Bodywork. The new wing design has been achieved by modifying a previous front wing assembly, which has been further optimised to offer more local load whilst maintaining the flow stability. In terms of the rear wheel bodywork, by modifying existing parts, a larger exit duct has been achieved for more cooling flow to cope with the anticipated brake energy of the this circuit.
This is the first time Singapore has posted a Sprint, and with it taking place in similar conditions to those for this session, for once this session is actually relevant, qualifying and the race, of course, taking place at night.
Green light, and Colapinto leads the way, followed by Gasly, Bearman, Ocon and Piastri.
As more drivers emerge all bar Perez are on hards. The Mexican is on mediums.
"The car feels very stiff," reports Russell.
Of the first wave, Antonelli goes quickest with a 37.699, ahead of Piastri and Russell.
As Stroll and then Norris run wide, in Turns 2 and 16, respectively, Verstappen posts a 35.641 and Hadjar a 36.958.
"Oh my God, the bottoming is crazy," reports Hadjar.
Hamilton goes second with a 36.437 and Leclerc fifth.
"The grounding is a disaster on the brakes," says Hadjar, "I have zero confidence to push... and my throttle is so slippery."
Gasly goes fourth but as the times tumble he drops to tenth in moments, as Leclerc goes top ahead of Norris and Verstappen.
Antonelli runs wide in Turn 11 having improved to fourth.
Quickest in S3, Russell goes top with a 34.977, but Norris responds with a 34.367 having gone purple in the final two sectors.
In quick succession Sainz and Alonso run wide in Turn 11.
Having pitted for an adjustment, Hadjar goes quickest in S1, the Red Bull driver subsequently going top with a 34.036, only to be leapfrogged by Leclerc (33.969).
While the track should be cleaning up, we are seeing more and more drivers struggling and consequently violating the track limits, among them Ocon, Sainz, Bearman, Antonelli and Hamilton, twice! Turns 2 and 11 appearing to be the most troublesome.
Russell goes top with a 33.886 and Gasly eighth.
With 40 minutes remaining, hards continue to be the order of the day.
Antonelli goes top with a 33.830, as Alonso improves to ninth.
Laurent Mekies reports that Verstappen's radio has stopped working as the front wing on his teammate's car is changed.
Russell kicks up a great cloud of dust as he enters his pit slot.
A 33.864 sees Leclerc close to within 0.34s of Antonelli, as Norris does well to keep his car out of the barriers after suffering a vicious snap.
"Brakes are not working... what's going on there at Turn 1," demands Stroll.
Hadjar goes fourth, just 0.206s off the pace, as Lawson improves to twelfth, 1.603s off the pace.
With just over 20 minutes remaining, the VSC is deployed as Hulkenberg suffers an engine issue on the pit straight. The marshals push him to safety.
Lawson improves to ninth but remains over a second off the pace.
Verstappen heads out, the Dutchman currently tenth, 1.102s off the pace.
As a number of drivers make the switch to mediums, Russell fits the softs, as do Leclerc and Piastri.
Quickest in all three sectors, Russell stops the clock at 32.864, as Antonelli heads out on mediums.
Piastri goes second with a 32.898, 0.034s off Russell's pace.
"This guy is... ay, ay, ay," says Leclerc after coming across a slower car.
Most drivers have opted for the mediums, only a few choosing the softs.
Verstappen (medium) goes fourth with a 32.971 as Hamilton (softs) goes top with a 32.821.
The top three, Hamilton, Russell and Piastri, are covered by just 0.077s.
Piastri improves to second with a 32.838.
Russell reclaims the top spot with a 32.274, 0.547s up on Hamilton.
Norris goes second with a 32.547 as Verstappen fails to improve.
"The pulling is getting very bad, I don't know why," reports Sainz.
Antonelli is in the escape road at Turn 11, waiting for a gap he can reverse into.
A big lock-up for Hamilton in Turn 10.
The session ends. Russell is quickest, ahead of Leclerc, Norris, Hamilton, Piastri, Verstappen, Antonelli, Hadjar, Gasly and Lawson.
Bearman is eleventh, ahead of Lindblad, Ocon, Alonso, Sainz, Bortoleto, Albon, Hulkenberg, Colapinto, Stroll, Perez and Bottas.
An interesting session, and though Russell has the grid penalty for Sunday, this sets him up nicely for qualifying for the Sprint.
With the top six covered by just 0.7s it's going to be close, the true picture somewhat muddied by the fact that only a couple of drivers ran the softs.
Check out our Friday gallery from Singapore here.
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