Max Verstappen has a 50mph near miss with a giant LIZARD on the track in practice at the Singapore Grand Prix
- Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were fastest in the first free practice
- Max Verstappen was also involved in an incident with a lizard on the track in 2016
- Singapore is known as a popular habitat for lizards, especially the monitor
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen had to swerve to avoid a lizard on the track during practice at the Singapore Grand Prix, in a second incident involving reptiles on the track since 2016.
Ferrari secured the one-two spot in practice with Charles Leclerc’s 1m33.350s, putting him less than a tenth ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz.
However, the Lizard interrupted the riding days as he appeared on the track three times, delaying practice due to yellow flags.
Max Verstappen had a memorable encounter with a similar reptile in 2016, and fittingly the Dutchman was the first to avoid the creature this time.
Max Verstappen had to take action to avoid the creature, probably a monitor lizard
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc drove the fastest during the first free practice of the Singapore Grand Prix
The 25-year-old was exiting turn eight in Singapore when he spotted the lizard on the side of the track, narrowly avoiding it.
In 2016, Verstappen also encountered a monitor lizard during FP3 in Singapore, as these creatures are common in the country.
in 2016, Vertsappen exclaimed, “There’s a giant lizard on the track,” and later laughed as he passed turn three before announcing, “I’m not kidding.”
A Red Bull engineer, who watched as Verstappen was forced to drive around the creature, asked him if he had come “face to face with Godzilla”.
This year the Red Bull driver commented: ‘Ah! There’s another lizard on the track, this time a smaller one.’
While Red Bull race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase joked: “got it, maybe Godzilla had a kid.”
Verstappen finished the session in third, with McLaren’s Lando Norris in fourth and Lewis Hamilton in fifth.
Carlos Sainz finished second and Verstappen completed the top three after the first session