Leclerc’s team mate Carlos Sainz, meanwhile, ended both of Friday’s practice sessions in P3 on a day where he suffered issues with the brakes on his SF-24.
“It’s been a bit of a topic in our team this year, running through some brake issues normally on Friday,” the Spaniard said later on. “And today it was my turn to face them, with a lot of inconsistency on the brakes throughout FP2 especially on cooldown laps.
FP1: Leclerc goes fastest from Norris and Sainz during first practice in Singapore
“We were having plenty of issues out there which doesn’t help my confidence or preparation for the weekend. When we are not having these issues and whenever we are having clean laps we are quick out there, so it’s not something that concerns me if we manage to put everything together tomorrow.”
On whether he could therefore be in the fight for pole and the race win should those issues be solved, Sainz answered: “I think so, I think we have a strong enough car to be in the fight.
“Lando seemed very quick also, and I think Red Bull and Mercedes are still yet to show a bit their hand, so I think we are on for another interesting weekend.”