FP1: Alonso leads Leclerc and Verstappen during first practice in Singapore

Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso was a somewhat surprising pace-setter during Friday’s first practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix, leading the way from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

Alonso worked his way down to a best time of 1m 31.116s over the course of the one-hour session, which began at 1730 local time under cloudy skies – fresh from some afternoon showers – in typically hot and humid conditions.

Those high temperatures led to a pre-weekend ‘heat hazard’ declaration from F1’s governing body, the FIA, introduced following the conditions experienced at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, meaning a special ‘Driver Cooling System’ has been fitted to cars this weekend.

All 20 cars were quick to make an appearance when the green light switched on at the end of the pit lane, with most drivers opting for hard tyres – and the Aston Martins taking mediums – despite a few damp patches lingering.

There was some early drama for Alex Albon when the Thai-British driver returned to the pits with some smoke coming from the rear of his Williams, forcing mechanics to get the air blowers and fire extinguishers out to keep the situation under control.

While that unfolded, the remaining 19 drivers got laps on the board and tried to find a rhythm around the Marina Bay Street Circuit – Lando Norris going fastest (1m 33.388s) via a wobble through Turn 17 and Leclerc surviving a lock-up at Turn 13.

Just over a quarter of the way into the session, it was Alonso who held P1 on a 1m 32.592s with his medium tyres, followed by Max Verstappen, Leclerc, the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Norris, and Williams’ Carlos Sainz (all on the hard rubber).

Bad news followed for Albon, with Williams confirming that his car had experienced a rear brake hardware problem, ruling him out for the remainder of the session – although the team are “confident” of it being resolved ahead of second practice.

Further moments followed when drivers began to push that little bit harder, bringing a trip to the run-off for Alpine’s Pierre Gasly when he went too deep at Turn 14, and a close call with the wall for Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton exiting the same corner.

As the session moved past its halfway point, Alonso lowered the benchmark to a 1m 32.054s before Sainz took over on a 1m 31.812s, meaning times were already on the edge of those seen in FP1 last year, when Leclerc set the pace with a 1m 31.763s.

Attention then turned to drivers’ soft-shod running, with the first runs on Pirelli’s red-marked compound triggering another flurry of green and purple sector times – Leclerc going quickest on a 1m 31.266s from Verstappen, Norris and Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar.

“That felt very understeery,” reported Piastri, meanwhile, after initially lapping more than half a second slower than team mate Norris – the Australian looking to bounce back from a difficult Azerbaijan weekend that saw his championship lead cut to 25 points.

As the final minutes ticked by and more Qualifying-style simulations came in, Alonso followed up his early pace by clocking an eye-catching 1m 31.116s and returning to the top of the timesheets over Leclerc, Verstappen and Hamilton – a lap that would not be beaten before the chequered flag.

Despite some traffic and a brush with the wall, Piastri improved significantly to edge out Norris for fifth, followed by Hadjar, Sainz, the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda and Haas racer Esteban Ocon, who rounded out the top-10 positions.

Mercedes had a quiet start to the weekend as George Russell and Kimi Antonelli wound up 11th and 14th respectively, split by Nico Hulkenberg and Gasly, while Liam Lawson, Ollie Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto, Lance Stroll, Franco Colapinto and the sidelined Albon brought up the rear.

Drivers and teams will now regroup in the Marina Bay paddock to dig through the data ahead of Free Practice 2, which is set to begin at 2100 local time and take place in conditions more representative of Qualifying and the Grand Prix.