McLaren's Lando Norris set the pace in a floodlit second practice session at the Singapore Grand Prix on Friday with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc close behind but Red Bull's championship leader Max Verstappen only 15th.

Oscar Piastri’s win last week at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix put McLaren top in the teams’ standings — the key to F1’s lavish prize money — but teammate Norris only took a small bite out of Verstappen’s lead.

Norris and Piastri have combined to win two of the last three F1 races for McLaren, while Verstappen hasn't won since the Spanish Grand Prix on June 23. While the team has said it wants Norris to dethrone Verstappen, Brown knows it is a longshot unless Norris can start sledgehammering-away large chunks of Verstappen's lead every race.