Lando Norris in Singapore - Photo: Race Pictures

F1 LIVE | Norris says it's "almost impossible" to beat Verstappen

07:04, 04 Oct

byShayni Solanki

Lando Norris says that it is "almost impossible" to beat Max Verstappen ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix qualifying. Follow the best news of the day with GPblog.

F1 LIVE | Saturday of the Singapore Grand Prix

Norris: Verstappen is one of the "best drivers ever in Formula 1"

Lando Norris claimed that it is "almost impossible" to be "as good" as four-time world champion Max Verstappen, as he is one of the "best drivers ever in Formula 1."

Runner-up in the Drivers' Standings, Lando Norris, shared amid a fierce championship fight that Verstappen is "hard to beat" because of his racing background.

Norris told ESPN: "I don't want to say or believe that I will ever be as good as Max because I think that is the wrong thing to tell myself.

"He never goes to 101%, but he will always be at 100%, and when he has a bad day, he is at 99%.

"And it is hard to beat someone who was born into an F1 seat, if I could go back and choose how to be a better driver, I would also have a mum and dad who were racing drivers, start when you are a baby in the paddock, start karting at whatever age he did and do more testing than everyone else."

mclaren-norris-singapore-verstappen-jpg.

Lando Norris during the Singapore Grand Prix press conference - Photo: Race Pictures

Piastri tops FP2 after Norris and Leclerc collide in the pit lane

Oscar Piastri topped an exciting FP2 session at the Singapore Grand Prix with two red flags and a pit lane incident, which culminated in Ferrari being hit with a €10,000 fine.

Max Verstappen set the third-fastest time in his RB21, equipped with a new front wing update, finishing behind championship leader Piastri and Isack Hadjar.

After topping FP1, Alonso finished fourth ahead of Lando Norris and his teammate, Lance Stroll. Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished ninth and tenth, respectively, but the Briton made a mistake on his final flying lap.

18 minutes into the session, Russell crashed into the wall after he lost control over the back end of his Mercedes into Turn 16. "That was weird," he commented over the team radio.

The red flag was waved for the second time when Liam Lawson hit the wall in the penultimate corner and came to a stop at the pit-lane exit.

Leclerc and Norris collided in FP2 with around 12 minutes remaining, and Leclerc was investigated for an unsafe release, which placed the blame on the team, who received a €10,000 fine.

Alonso surprises with P1 in FP1 ahead of Leclerc and Verstappen in Singapore

Fernando Alonso surprised the paddock by taking P1 in the first free practice session ahead of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen at the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Spaniard's 1.31.116 far better than anything else out on track, with +0.150 separting him and Leclerc in P2, while Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton took P3 and P4, respectively.

The McLaren's of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were fifth and sixth, while Isack Hadjar, Carlos Sainz, Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon rounded out the top ten.

Alonso went on to claim that the Aston Martin is still "not in a happy place" despite being in the top four throughout both Friday practice sessions at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Schedule for the Singapore Grand Prix

Drivers return to action today at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. Unlike next year, this weekend will not feature a Sprint format

Today's program features FP1 and FP2. See the complete schedule here!

Friday, October 3

Free Practice 1 — 10:30-11:30 BST [17:30-18:30 local time]

Free Practice 2 — 14:00-15:00 BST [21:00-22:00 local time]

Saturday, October 4

Free Practice 3 — 10:30-11:30 BST [17:30-18:30 local time]

Qualifying — 14:00-15:00 BST [21:00-22:00 local time]

Sunday, October 5

Race — 13:00 BST [20:00 local time]

GPblog's F1 Paddock Update

Want to stay up-to-date with what happens in the F1 paddock? Then GPblog's F1 Paddock Update video is the perfect way to do it. Subscribe to GPblog's YouTube channel and turn on notifications to never miss the latest episodes.