Ricciardo breaks track record in first practice

2017 Singapore Grand Prix first practice

Posted on

| Written by

Daniel Ricciardo set a new track record for the Singapore Grand Prix circuit as he headed the first practice session of the weekend.

The Red Bull driver set a best lap time of 1’42.489 which was just under a tenth of a second quicker than last year’s record-setting pole position time by Nico Rosberg.

Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari and the second Red Bull of Max Verstappen were just a tenth of a second slower. The quickest Mercedes was that of championship leader Lewis Hamilton who was four-tenths of a second behind in fourth place.

Hamilton briefly ran into an escape road at turn 14 near the end of the session. Team mate Valtteri Bottas complained on the radio that his car’s rear was “un-driveable” and ended up with the sixth fastest time.

The two W08s were separated by Sergio Perez, who edged Bottas by a hundredth of a second in his Force India.

Fernando Alonso set the eighth-fastest time for McLaren but again experienced a problem with power delivered from his Honda engine. He added to the mounting speculation surrounding the team by pointing out “for info, we could be P1” at one stage.

The top ten was completed by Nico Hulkenberg and Daniil Kvyat. The latter was partnered for this session by newcomer Sean Gelael, who finished over three seconds slower than the team’s regular driver.

Pos.No.DriverCarBest lapGapLaps
13Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-TAG Heuer1’42.48921
25Sebastian VettelFerrari1’42.5980.10921
333Max VerstappenRed Bull-TAG Heuer1’42.6100.12123
444Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’42.9040.41527
511Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes1’43.4230.93425
677Valtteri BottasMercedes1’43.4340.94527
77Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1’43.7341.24525
814Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Honda1’43.7591.27019
927Nico HulkenbergRenault1’44.1011.61224
1026Daniil KvyatToro Rosso-Renault1’44.2201.73125
112Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren-Honda1’44.3401.85125
1230Jolyon PalmerRenault1’44.9612.47225
1331Esteban OconForce India-Mercedes1’45.0532.56425
1419Felipe MassaWilliams-Mercedes1’45.0842.59527
158Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari1’46.4563.96720
1650Antonio GiovinazziHaas-Ferrari1’46.7824.29327
1718Lance StrollWilliams-Mercedes1’47.1904.70111
1838Sean GelaelToro Rosso-Renault1’47.5705.08126
199Marcus EricssonSauber-Ferrari1’47.6995.21023
2094Pascal WehrleinSauber-Ferrari1’47.8865.39724

First practice visual gaps

Daniel Ricciardo – 1’42.489

+0.109 Sebastian Vettel – 1’42.598

+0.121 Max Verstappen – 1’42.610

+0.415 Lewis Hamilton – 1’42.904

+0.934 Sergio Perez – 1’43.423

+0.945 Valtteri Bottas – 1’43.434

+1.245 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’43.734

+1.270 Fernando Alonso – 1’43.759

+1.612 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’44.101

+1.731 Daniil Kvyat – 1’44.220

+1.851 Stoffel Vandoorne – 1’44.340

+2.472 Jolyon Palmer – 1’44.961

+2.564 Esteban Ocon – 1’45.053

+2.595 Felipe Massa – 1’45.084

+3.967 Romain Grosjean – 1’46.456

+4.293 Antonio Giovinazzi – 1’46.782

+4.701 Lance Stroll – 1’47.190

+5.081 Sean Gelael – 1’47.570

+5.210 Marcus Ericsson – 1’47.699

+5.397 Pascal Wehrlein – 1’47.886

Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

12 comments on “Ricciardo breaks track record in first practice”

  1. I’d love to see these time as the starting grid.

    1. I’d love to see these times as the starting grid. Sorry for the typo.

      1. I’d love to see this order as the race finish.

  2. He added to the mounting speculation surrounding the team by pointing out “for info, we could be P1” at one stage.

    Saucer of milk for Car 14….

  3. Galael’s junior career isn’t warranting an F1 seat and being over 3’s slower then Kvyat isn’t a good showing either…

    1. @jeffreyj I asked during the week why he was been given a run & was told that he was given a run in the Red Bull simulator & surprised the engineer’s with how good his technical feedback was.

      His run today wasn’t geared towards lap time, He was trying different setups & some development parts to give feedback & see if what they saw from him on the simulator translates to real world. If it does expect him to be signed as development driver to do additional sim-work & maybe some more FP1 runs.

      I cynically asked how much he was paying & was flat up told that this isn’t about money, He genuinely shocked them with his technical feedback & that is the only reason he’s in the car. He’s not been looked at for a race seat, It’s purely for development feedback.

      1. @gt-racer I cynically asked how much he was paying & was flat up told that this isn’t about money

        That’s not the same as paying no money. Perhaps they thought ‘why not take the hefty sum of money since he’s half decent as a testdriver from his feedback’

        Whatever the case, his prowess as a racing driver isn’t the reason he’s doing FP1’s, that’s for sure.

  4. The 180 degree rotating OnBoard camera made a return during FP1. Hasn’t been used since the OnBoards were all upgraded at the start of 2015:
    https://vid.me/CU12c

    1. Also seemed like Ferrari were testing the latest version of the Halo with a thinner central strut & more aerodynamic shape.

      https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4392/37096990521_eb793513c8_b.jpg
      https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4428/37096992171_0af52d8680_o.jpg

      1. Holy crap in the whole “halo yes halo no” has anyone ever pointed out at how ugly the view from the camera car is? I was all for it up until these two screencaps.

  5. Red Bulls looking quick, But sorry guys it will be a Ferrari 1-2.

Comments are closed.