SINGAPORE, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Big lizards are a familiar sight in equatorial Singapore but they startled Red Bull's double world champion Max Verstappen and other drivers after straying onto the Formula One racetrack during practice on Friday. "It's going to be a brave marshal to go out and pick one of those up," Red Bull team boss Christian Horner told Sky Sports television. Local fauna are not uncommon company, with drivers used to groundhogs and foxes on Canada's Gilles Villeneuve circuit in Montreal. Friday's lizard incursion recalled the 2016 Singapore race when Verstappen was surprised on track by a big one that his engineer dubbed "Godzilla". They are also diurnal, meaning they sleep at night, and will hopefully pose no further difficulty for drivers preparing for Sunday's night race.

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Persons: Red, Max Verstappen, Christian Horner, Canada's Gilles Villeneuve, Verstappen, Gianpiero, Max, Horner, Tom Westbrook, Ken Ferris Organizations: Sky Sports, Singapore's, Parks ' Board, Thomson Locations: SINGAPORE, Singapore, Montreal, Malaysia