Max dodges lizard on his way to second in FP3

Published on 17 September 2016 by Stefan Meens

During FP3, Max Verstappen once again showed his and Red Bull's potential around the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore. The Dutchman set the second quickest time of the session, a mere six hundredths adrift of fastest man Nico Rosberg. Kimi Raikkonen completed the top three in his Ferrari.

Traditionally, the first part of free practice 3 is never marked by quick lap times. Singapore's FP3 rendition continued that status quo with most teams running the soft and super-soft tyres in the early stages.

Despite usual Saturday morning running, a couple of things stood out. First, Pascal Wehrlein caused a brief red flag after sliding the rear of his Manor into the barriers. The German was able to drive back to his team, but race control opted the put the session on hold to clear up the debris.

The second odd incident involved Max and a lizard. “There's a giant lizard on the track!”, informs Max his team after nearly running over a two foot long reptile. His response was more funny than helpful: “You were face to face with Godzilla!”

In the final part of FP3, the teams focus on qualifying simulations. Rosberg puts in the quickest lap of the session, 1:44.352. Like everyone else, the German's time is set on the ultra-soft tyres. Hamilton looks to challenge Rosberg for the top spot, but the world champion outbrakes himself, forcing his Mercedes wide into the run-off area.

The Red Bulls show good pace over one lap. Max pushes Mercedes by clocking a 1:44.411, six hundredths adrift of Rosberg. Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo lapped half a second slower than the German, but lost time behind Esteban Ocon in the final few turns of his hotlap.

Singapore Grand Prix - Marina Bay Street Circuit - Saturday 17 September

RESULTS FREE PRACTICE 3

01  6 Nico Rosberg        Mercedes                    1:44.352           15
02 33 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:44.411  +0.059s  15
03  7 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                     1:44.860  +0.508s  15
04  3 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:44.903  +0.551s  12
05  5 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                     1:45.104  +0.752s  13
06 27 Nico Hulkenberg     Force India Mercedes        1:45.316  +0.964s  13
07 26 Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso Ferrari          1:45.503  +1.151s  19
08 44 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                    1:45.806  +1.454s   9
09 55 Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso Ferrari          1:45.879  +1.527s  17
10 77 Valtteri Bottas     Williams Mercedes           1:45.947  +1.595s  16
11 11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes        1:46.112  +1.760s  15
12 14 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda               1:46.164  +1.812s  13
13 21 Esteban Gutierrez   Haas Ferrari                1:46.316  +1.964s  16
14 19 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes           1:46.529  +2.177s  17
15 20 Kevin Magnussen     Renault                     1:47.116  +2.764s  11
16 22 Jenson Button       McLaren Honda               1:47.277  +2.925s  16
17 12 Felipe Nasr         Sauber Ferrari              1:47.293  +2.941s  18
18  8 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari                1:47.411  +3.059s  20
19  9 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari              1:47.956  +3.604s  20
20 30 Jolyon Palmer       Renault                     1:48.689  +4.337s  13
21 94 Pascal Wehrlein     MRT Mercedes                1:49.201  +4.849s  10
22 31 Esteban Ocon        MRT Mercedes                1:49.565  +5.213s  14 

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