Alonso Tops Opening Session at Marina Bay

F1 Singapore

3-5 October includes the main event kicking off at 13:00 BST on Sunday.

Live commentary available on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and mobile app.

Practice Session Summary

Aston Martin's Spanish veteran was fastest in front of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and reigning champion during FP1 for the Marina Bay race.

The British team's drivers Oscar Piastri and British talent concluded the practice in mid-table positions.

The young Australian was 0.217 seconds quicker than the Briton.

The experienced Spaniard was a slim margin in front of the Ferrari driver and over a quarter of a second quicker than Verstappen.

The Italian squad's Lewis Hamilton was fourth fastest.

Team Strategies

Few anticipate that Aston Martin will be contenders for the top spot.

Nonetheless, the outfit are confident of a strong showing on a low-speed track that is ideally suited to their car, which performs better when plenty of downforce are needed.

Two-time champion Fernando is also renowned as a street circuit master, and usually excels on the Singapore circuit.

Yet he was probably operating with reduced weight or a higher engine mode than his rivals, or both, to achieve that pace.

Practice Conditions

Partner Lance Stroll was 1.918secs slower in 18th place.

The Canadian had issues with his seat early in the session and was also evaluating test items.

The first session in Singapore is not reflective of conditions under lights as it is run in afternoon sun in late afternoon, while the shootout and the race are staged under floodlights.

Points Situation

The McLaren driver leads Norris by a quarter-century with the final stretch to go entering the event in the Lion City.

The Woking-based team are set to secure the constructors' championship on race day.

Single possibility they can not tie it up in this race is if Mercedes surpass them by over thirty or Ferrari do so by 35.

Rival Teams

The energy drink brand's team are positive of a strong result after Verstappen's victories in the previous rounds ahead of this Grand Prix.

The team breathed a sigh when precipitation occurring ahead of FP1 cleared by the moment the vehicles took to the track on a surface that had not been wet.

Motorsport adviser the Austrian stated before the session that they wanted a clear session to begin properly on fine-tuning their set-up for the Grand Prix.

Dennis Carter
Dennis Carter

Zkušený novinář se zaměřením na mezinárodní události a technologické trendy.