Charles Leclerc topped the first practice session for the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, while Lando Norris was second fastest and very close.
But before going into details, it is worth noting that the track in FP1 was quite green and dusty not to mention qualifying and the race would be happening at a later time in the day which makes the times unrepresentative.
The session started with the sun up and towards the end of it, the flood lights were turned on as the sun set.
The time will ultimately drop more as the track rubbers in, but that doesn't mean we could not get an initial idea as to who is hot and who's not.
So Leclerc seemed to be in good form, picking up from where he left at Baku and Norris seemed to be out of the box with nothing to choose between the two.
Carlos Sainz was third fastest confirming Ferrari's good start to the weekend in Singapore, while Max Verstappen was out of sorts, fourth fastest in the Red Bull. Remember the Adrian Newey-designed cars do not like the Marina Bay Circuit.
Yuki Tsunoda was a surprise fifth in the VCARB, while Oscar Piastri started the session on the back foot after his car suffered a mechanical problem which meant he lost some time, but after that did not seem comfortable like Norris. He was sixth.
Daniel Ricciardo was in seventh ahead of Alex Albon in eighth as Fernando Alonso was ninth, ahead of Esteban Ocon in tenth.
Mercedes did not have a good session as Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were 12th and 16th respectively.
Buildup towards FP1
It's back to back Formula 1 races, Azerbaijan and Singapore, as the season enters its final stage with the intensity and intrigue increasing.
McLaren are on a roll, and Ferrari have been strong recently with Singapore's Marina Bay Circuit a venue the Red Cars have historically enjoyed.
On the other hand, Red Bull Racing will be worried coming into this weekend's F1 race at a track where they have struggled even when they were at their dominant best, so they would be bracing for a rough ride.
As for Mercedes, were they are confused and confusing us with them, as their form fluctuates over the course of the weekend with their boss Toto Wolff pointing out their struggles with controlling the tyre temperature of their W15.
Kevin Magnussen will be back driving for Haas this weekend after serving his one-race ban at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix while we can look forward to seeing how Franco Colapinto's Williams stint continues.
Ricciardo though is racing with doubt surrounding his future as rumors claim he will be replaced from Austin by Liam Lawson. He is adamant that is not the case though.
In terms of tyres, Pirelli brought the C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium) and C5 (Soft) compounds to Singapore.
In terms of car upgrades, not much, and mostly circuit specific with Red Bull having revised front brake ducts with larger exit geometry.
Ferrari have a new front wing, not track specific but offers improved "downstream flow features" due to revised third and fourth elements.
McLaren who have a special livery this weekend have brought a high downforce beam win for their MCL38.
Aston Martin have a track-specific front wing, while Alpine have a re-profiled rear wing, as Williams have done revised on the front suspension.
"Front wishbones, track rod and pushrod geometries are updated. Minor updates to some of the brake duct surfaces, boot panels, and chassis leg fairings compliment the revised leg geometries," according to Williams' car presentation FIA document.
The Denim livered VCARB has a revised front wing specific for the Marina Bay Circuit.
FP1 Session Highlights
The session started in dry conditions with the track temperature at 38 degrees Celsius while the air temperature was 31 degrees. Humidity, a troubling factor for drivers was 65%.
While the session was given the green light, Piastri remained in his garage with his car up on the stand and in pieces as work was underway on the rear corner after the team spotted a problem.
McLaren explained: "During this morning’s pitstop practice we encountered an issue on the rear-left corner of Oscar’s car, which we are currently replacing. This isn’t an issue we’ve seen before, but we want to assess the issue fully to ensure we have no further issues this weekend. We hope to get Oscar out before the end of FP1."
At the start the drivers were sent out on a mix of Hard and Medium tyres.
At the start, Pierre Gasly did not manage to turn his Alpine well while exiting his garage, that meant he had to do a three-point-turn with the help of the mechanics. He was in the way of Verstappen.
12 minutes into the session, Piastri finally emerged from his garages and joins the action while Ricciardo was stuck in the VCARB garage as the mechanics struggled to remove the aero rakes off the car.
Soon Sergio Perez had a moment at Turn 16 locking up heavily and ending up in the run-off area bringing out a brief Yellow flag and also was in Piastri's way when he re-joined the track.
Verstappen and Russell also locked up at the same corner earlier but kept the car on track. Verstappen complained about understeer and also reported that his tyres were getting too hot over the full lap.
Sainz also got caught out at Turn 16/17 chicane, and went off track but did not hit anything.
A few minutes away from the halfway mark, Norris became the first driver to bolt on the Soft tyres and set out to do some qualifying runs. Verstappen and Hamilton soon followed.
Norris went to the top of the timing screens while Verstappen was two tenths behind in second with Hamilton over half a second behind in third. Albon then went third.
Leclerc and Sainz then started their runs on Softs. The former went fourth fastest after a mistake on his lap while Tsunoda went second, only to dropped to third by Sainz. Perez was ninth.
Order after the first run on Softs: Norris - Sainz - Tsunoda - Verstappen - Albon - Leclerc - Piastri - Colapinto - Hamilton - Perez.
The drivers returned to their garages and after some adjustments on the car, were back out again for some more qualifying runs.
Leclerc went to the top after that with a lap that was on the limit.
Alonso had a huge moment on the kerbs but manages to avoid the wall after a great save.
With nine minutes remaining, Hamilton complained about understeer on his Mercedes. He was 12th fastest at that moment. Russell was 16th. Not a decent session for the Mercs.
Piastri then reported that he touched the wall out of Turn 10 and returned to the pits for some inspection. He was sent out again as the team found no damage.
Hamilton reported traction issues again, he said: "I’m trying to reduce the traction metrics. You guys have got to fix this. I’m being as soft as I can."
Perez said he "cannot stop the car with the front right" while Sainz, on his way back into the pits reported he was not happy with his brakes.
"We need to sort out the brakes," the Spaniard said over the radio. "It cannot be that we changed the brake balance so much."
The session ended with practice starts.
How they finished
Leclerc posted a 1:31.763 to go fastest, 0.076s ahead of Norris in second while Sainz was 0.189s behind his teammate in third.
Verstappen was 0.334s off the pace in fourth while Tsunoda was 0.166s further down the road in fifth with Piastri in sixth with a lap time of 1:32.369.
Ricciardo was 0.612s away from the top in seventh and 0.076s ahead of Albon in eighth while Alonso was ninth and Ocon tenth.
Singapore GP FP1 Classification
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