Fernando Alonso sprung a surprise and topped the first practice session for the 2025 Singapore Grand Prix with Charles Leclerc second fastest as Max Verstappen followed.
The double Formula 1 Champion posted a 1:31.116 towards the end of the session as conditions were at their best to go fastest, 0.150s clear of Leclerc in second and 0.276s faster than Verstappen in third.
It has to be noted, though, that the times in FP1 are highly unrepresentative due to the time of day they were taking place at with qualifying and the race happening at nigh time not to mention that the track was still evolving.
But it is clear that McLaren are in good shape which also applies to Verstappen and Leclerc while it would be doubtful if Alonso can maintain such form.
Chasing the top was Lewis Hamilton who was fourth at the end of the session, 0.364s off the pace and just 0.001s ahead of Oscar Piastri who was fifth fastest and in turn, over two tenths clear of his teammate, Lando Norris who was sixth fastest.
Isack Hadjar had a decent session for the Racing Bulls and was seventh fastest with Carlos Sainz behind the Frenchman in eighth after a strong performance for Williams who took part with only one car as Alex Albon retired early on in the session after his brakes caught fire.
Yuki Tsunoda was ninth with Esteban Ocon in tenths as both Mercedes cars did not feature in the top ten as George Russell was 11th with Kimi Antonelli further down in 14th.
Buildup towards FP1
With the European part of the season behind us, F1 was back on the flyaway races starting with Singapore being the venue of racing this weekend.
Verstappen arrives on a high this weekend having won in Baku and Monza as the Marina Bay Circuit will be the ultimate test for the improved RB21 and whether Red Bull Racing have finally managed to sort out the issues that were bugging the Dutchman.
McLaren need to bounce back after their disastrous weekend in Azerbaijan with Norris finishing seventh and Piastri ending up in the barriers and Singapore will be the best place to do so as the track should suit their MCL39 really well.
Ferrari have also performed well in Singapore but they have failed to delivered on promising starts of weekend so far this season so will Leclerc and Hamilton break through this weekend, the latter also grieving the death of his dog Roscoe?
How will Mercedes perform as they fight Ferrari for second in the F1 Constructors' Championship? The Singapore heat will not favor their car...
As for the tyres, Pirelli have brought their softer range of tyres this weekend with the C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium) and C5 (Soft) compounds available this weekend.
In terms of car upgrades, McLaren, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Alpine, Haas, Racing Bulls, Williams, and Sauber did not reveal any updates in their pre-race Car Presentation Submissions.
Red Bull, on the other hand have a new front wing as well as a revised engine cover with more cooling exits to deal with the heat of Singapore. Mercedes also had a revised front wing.
The FIA announced a Heat Hazard ahead of the weekend in Singapore which meant drivers had the option to use their cooling vests if they choose to, or carry extra ballast of the opt not to.
FP1 Session Highlights
The weekend in Singapore will run under continuous threat of rain and while it rained a bit ahead of FP1, he session started in dry conditions with track temperatures at 36 degrees Celsius while air temperature 29 degrees, two less than the FIA's 31-degree threshold to announce a Heat Hazard.
Drivers did not waste any time and started their session on time, all opting for the Hard tyres except for Alonso and Lance Stroll who bolted Mediums on their Aston Martins.
But soon, after some running, Albon parked his Williams FW47 in the team pit box with smoke coming out of the rear tyres.
The Williams mechanics went about extinguishing the fire and then managed to get Albon out of the car.
Williams soo after revealed the issue with Albon releasing a statement saying: "Alex has experienced a rear brake hardware problem which we are investigating.
"He will not join the remainder of FP1 but we are confident we can resolve the issue for FP2," the team added.
Replay showed several drivers, namely Verstappen, Norris and Sainz, flirting with the barriers but just getting away with it.
But then Leclerc then locked up into Turn 13 as his car went straight, but he managed to stay away from the barriers.
The Hamilton had a bit of a moment, having to apply a bit of a correction into Turn 14 while Pierre Gasly caused a brief Yellow flag as he ended up in the runoff area at Turn 14 as well.
With 26 minutes remaining, the Soft tyres made their debut with Stroll bolting a set on his AMR25 and went for the first qualifying simulation of the weekend. He went only 11th fastest.
More drivers followed suit soon after.
Then Antonelli went out of shape in Turn 1 and went wide over the kerbs as he reported a "massive slide" then lack of traction.
The Hamilton was a bit out of shape coming out of Turn 7 while Oliver Bearman went deep at one point. Piastri reported his car was "understeery" after his first run on Softs which put him sixth on the timing screens.
"The Ferrari will invent mirrors one day, I hope," was Piastri's cheeky comments over the radio as he came upon Hamilton who was going slow into Turn 1.
The Australian then scraped the wall at the exit of Turn 17 and asked his team to check his MCL39.
After that the drivers shifted for some runs on higher fuel loads as there were some close moments between the drivers.
Gabriel Bortoleto was unhappy with Piastri running slow in front of him while the Brazilian's teammate, Nico Hulkenberg had a scary moment with Sainz as they raced into the chicane, the Spaniard going off track to avoid contact.
The session was concluded with practice starts.
Singapore GP FP1 Classification
loading
Latest News
Loading
