Alonso Tops Opening Session at Singapore
Marina Bay Street Circuit
3-5 October includes the race starting at 13:00 BST on race day.
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Practice Session Overview
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso topped the times beating Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Red Bull's Max Verstappen in FP1 for the street circuit event.
The British team's drivers Oscar Piastri and British talent finished the session in fifth and sixth.
Piastri was a notable margin faster than the Briton.
The experienced Spaniard was 0.150secs in front of Leclerc and 0.276secs faster than the Red Bull star.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton was fourth fastest.
Weekend Outlook
It is not expected that Aston Martin will be front-runners for pole position.
That said, the team are hopeful of a strong showing on a technical venue that is ideally suited to their car, which runs more competitively when plenty of aerodynamic grip are needed.
Double world title winner Fernando is also renowned as a street circuit master, and typically performs well on the night race venue.
But he was probably using less fuel or a more aggressive setting than his competitors, or a combination, to achieve that pace.
Practice Conditions
Fellow driver Canadian racer was almost two seconds off the pace in 18th place.
The Canadian had difficulties with his seat early in the session and was also evaluating new components.
The first session in Singapore is not reflective of later performance under lights as it is conducted in bright conditions in the daytime, while the shootout and the main event are held after dark.
Title Battle
Piastri has an advantage over Norris by 25 points with seven races left heading into the weekend in the Lion City.
McLaren are poised to wrap up the manufacturers' crown on Sunday.
The only way they can miss out in this race is if Mercedes outscore them by 31 points or Ferrari manage it by thirty-five.
Competitor Outlook
The energy drink brand's team are hopeful of a strong result after recent successes in Italy and Azerbaijan ahead of this weekend.
They were relieved when drizzle falling ahead of FP1 abated by the moment the cars took to the track on a track that had not been wet.
Senior figure Helmut Marko stated before the session that they required a uninterrupted running to get underway on understanding their set-up for the Grand Prix.
