Fernando Alonso Sets Pace First Practice at Marina Bay
F1 Singapore
3-5 October will see the race kicking off at 1pm BST on race day.
Live commentary available on digital platforms and mobile app.
FP1 Results Highlights
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fastest beating Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and reigning champion during the opening session at the Marina Bay race.
McLaren's championship contenders Australian rookie and British talent finished the session in P5 and P6.
Piastri was a notable margin quicker than the Briton.
Alonso was 0.150secs in front of Leclerc and 0.276secs quicker than Verstappen.
The Italian squad's British icon was P4.
Car Performance
Few anticipate that Aston Martin will be front-runners for the top spot.
That said, the squad are optimistic of a strong showing on a tight circuit that is better matched to their car, which performs better when high levels of aerodynamic grip are needed.
Two-time champion Alonso is also renowned as a Singapore specialist, and typically performs well on the Singapore circuit.
But he was likely operating with reduced weight or a increased power than his competitors, or both, to achieve that pace.
Team Updates
His team-mate Canadian racer was 1.918secs behind in P18.
The Canadian had difficulties with his driving position early in the session and was also evaluating new components.
The first session in Singapore is not representative of conditions later in the weekend as it is held in daylight in the daytime, while grid-deciding session and the main event are run after dark.
Title Battle
Piastri leads his teammate by 25 points with remaining rounds to go entering the weekend in the Lion City.
The Woking-based team are set to wrap up the constructors' championship on Sunday.
Sole scenario they can not tie it up in this race is if Mercedes beat them by 31 points or the Scuderia do so by thirty-five.
Red Bull Update
Red Bull are optimistic of a strong result after Verstappen's victories in Italy and Azerbaijan preceding this Grand Prix.
They were relieved when drizzle occurring ahead of FP1 cleared by the moment the cars went out on a surface that had not been wet.
Motorsport adviser Helmut Marko commented before the session that they needed a dry hour to begin properly on understanding their chassis settings for the weekend.
