Mercedes look favourites for a front row start despite Ferrari and Red Bull showing good pace around the Marina Bay Street Circuit. The two challenging teams could sneak into the front row at the expense of one of the Silver Arrow cars if they have a flawless final qualifying session.

Where to watch live

The third free practice session begins at 11am BST (17 September), while the qualifying session starts at 2pm BST. Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports F1 HD will provide live coverage of both events in the UK. Real-time Internet updates are available on the Live Timing section of the sport's official website.

Overview

Mercedes seem to have overcome the problems that saw them start on the third row of the grid last season and lose out to Ferrari and Red Bull in the race as well. They struggled to match the pace with the two challenging teams last season, but seem to have fixed their issues and are now favourites for a front row start.

Nico Rosberg set the fastest time in second practice (FP2), but has the Ferrari's and Red Bull well within sights with Kimi Raikonnen just over two tenths behind. The top four cars were covered within half a second, which bodes well for qualifying. Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel were unable set their best laps around the circuit during their low fuel runs, but are likely to be in the mix come qualifying on Saturday.

F1
Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes are set for a three-way battle for pole position at the 2016 Singapore Grand Prix Getty

The Briton's session ended early after his car suffered a hydraulic issue, which also prevented him from completing his race simulation runs. Rosberg trails the reigning world champion by two points and already has an advantage as car set up and rhythm are key to performing well at this circuit.

The battle between Red Bull and Ferrari look very close and it could come down to who has the better lap between the drivers rather than car advantage. They look evenly matched with Ferrari just over a tenth quicker in FP2.

Force India look to be winning the battle between them and the Williams team, Nico Hulkenburg leading the charge, while Toro Rosso are the surprise candidates in the top 10 despite running an old engine with no upgrades. They are there purely based on the strength of their chassis design, which like the Red Bull team is suited to high down force circuits such as the Marina Bay.

Top 10 results of the second practice session from Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore:

1NICO ROSBERG1:44.152
2KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN1:44.427+0.275s
3MAX VERSTAPPEN1:44.532+0.380s
4DANIEL RICCIARDO1:44.557+0.405s
5SEBASTIAN VETTEL1:45.161+1.009s
6NICO HULKENBERG1:45.182+1.030s
7LEWIS HAMILTON1:45.275+1.123s
8CARLOS SAINZ1:45.507+1.355s
9FERNANDO ALONSO1:45.779+1.627s
10DANIIL KVYAT1:46.029+1.877s