Russell fastest from Leclerc in Singapore practice

Mercedes driver George Russell leads Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in practice at the Singapore Grand Prix. George Russell will be starting from the back of the grid in Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix because of a penalty for taking a new engine Mercedes driver George Russell led Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in practice at the Singapore Grand Prix. A late lap from Leclerc, who was 0.198 seconds off Russell's pace, split up what had been an all-British top three. McLaren's Lando Norris was third fastest, 0.273secs behind Russell, and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton fourth, 0.499secs off the pace. The top five, concluded by McLaren's Oscar Piastri, were all on the soft-compound tyres, while Red Bull's Max Verstappen was the fastest driver using medium tyres in sixth place.

The four-time champion was 0.732secs off the pace and 0.519secs quicker than Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli behind him in seventh, also on the medium tyres. It was the only practice session of the weekend with sprint qualifying taking place at 13:30 BST. The split between tyre compounds made it hard to form any conclusions about relative pace. Russell will start Sunday's race from the back as a result of a penalty for using too many engine parts, following his engine failure while running third in the closing stages of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. He and Antonelli