FP1: Leclerc goes fastest from Norris and Sainz during first practice in Singapore

Charles Leclerc set the pace during first practice ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, with the Ferrari driver going fastest from McLaren’s Lando Norris by only seven hundredths of a second.

Daniel Ricciardo – a man currently facing speculation about his future – was the first to hit the track as the session got under way at 1730 local time, but one driver who looked set to remain in the garage was Oscar Piastri after an unusual problem had affected the Australian’s car during a pit stop practice earlier in the day.

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The McLaren’s rear-left tyre had seemingly become stuck, with the team subsequently stating that “this isn’t an issue we’ve seen before” and that they intended to “assess the issue fully to ensure we have no further issues this weekend”.

As the first laps went on the board amid a mixture of medium and hard tyres being used across the field, Norris set the early pace on the medium compound with a lap of 1m 33.903s, half a second ahead of championship rival Max Verstappen.

While Piastri was able to join the session after spending the first 10 minutes in the pits, his countryman Ricciardo soon found himself in the garage due to the RB team struggling to remove an aero rake from his VCARB 01.

The slippery conditions sparked a few moments out on track, with Sergio Perez briefly bringing out a yellow flag after going into the run-off area at Turn 16. Elsewhere, Valtteri Bottas reported that he had been “blocked” by the Williams of Franco Colapinto.

Leclerc – a driver who is yet to win in Singapore – had put himself at the top of the timesheets by the halfway point, just as others started to bolt on the soft tyre for some flying runs. Norris promptly returned to P1 on the C5 rubber, while the Williams pair caught the eye by going into the top 10 off the back of their double points score last time out in Azerbaijan.

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Fernando Alonso pulled off an impressive save after taking too much kerb and nearly losing his Aston Martin as the track continued to evolve and the times kept on tumbling. The Spaniard’s team mate Lance Stroll, meanwhile, sparked the ire of Yuki Tsunoda, with the RB encountering the Canadian running slowly in his path.

It was Leclerc who had gone fastest of all by the end of the hour with his effort of 1m 31.763s, putting him just 0.076s clear of Norris, while the Monegasque’s Ferrari team mate Carlos Sainz – who claimed a stunning victory in Singapore last year – took third.

Verstappen went fourth fastest, ahead of Tsunoda in fifth and Piastri – who had a brush with the wall in the latter stages, picking up some damage to his wheel hubcap – slotting into sixth. Ricciardo followed in seventh, with Albon, Alonso and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon rounding out the top 10.

Colapinto took P11 in his third F1 race weekend, ahead of the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton in P12 and Pierre Gasly in P13 for Alpine. Perez went 14th quickest, having complained about struggling to turn his Red Bull during his final laps, with Stroll behind in 15th.

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George Russell was down in P16 following on from his surprise podium finish one week ago in Baku, while the returning Kevin Magnussen put his Haas in P17 in front of the Kick Sauber pair of Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, leaving Nico Hulkenberg to bring up the rear in P20.

The teams and drivers will now have the opportunity to debrief before returning to the track for second practice at 2100 local time.