Fernando Alonso was ahead of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen in the opening practice session at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Title leader Oscar Piastri was the best placed McLaren driver, with Australia lapsing fifth and 0.364 seconds at a pace.
The typical daytime session at the Grand Prix at night begins at an ambient temperature of 84°F, with humidity covered with 72%. The commonly used Marina Bay Street has also begun to get dirty, and tracks have evolved as expected through the 60-minute opening session.
Alonso mastered the situation in the late afternoon and was at the top of the session with the best time of 1M31.116, with the Spaniard finishing time in the fastest opening sector. This is the first time Alonso has led a session this season.
Leclerc laps 0.15 seconds from the pace, but Verstappen, who arrived in Singapore with two consecutive wins, was another 0.126 seconds.
Lewis Hamilton abandoned his first abandon due to traffic and found himself above 0.7 at the second pace, so he moved to the fourth with three laps on soft tires. His best time brought him to the Alonso drift of 0.364S.
Piastri also needed multiple attempts to set his best time. The Australian sued the “very understood” car after his first attempt. The second lap after some tweaks left him off the pace until 5th and 0.365 seconds despite leaving the wall and tapping Turn 17.
His teammate Lando Norris is behind sixth, with Briton 0.217s slower than his sister car.
Isack Hadjar finished seventh in the Race Bulls ahead of the impressive Carlos Sainz. Carlos Sainz led the session early, with the best laps (0.696 from Alonso’s pace) set on medium tires, with Williams’ drivers not using the soft.
Tsunoda finished ninth in the 0.468-second Red Bull race against teammate Verstappen to complete the top 10 ahead of Esteban Ocon.
George Russell placed 11th in Mercedes with a pace of 1.023 seconds, but the Mercedes driver did not sample the entire session and set the best time on the medium.
Nico Furkenberg placed 12th with Pierre Guthrie and Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Liam Lawson was 15th place after Oliver Baerman, Gabriel Boltreto, Lance Stroll (1.918s slower than his session-leading Aston Martin teammates) and Franco Colapinto.
Alex Albon’s session continued just two laps before, after Williams’ rear brakes set himself on fire, removing him from the session. The team said they are confident that the car will be available for the crucial second practice session, which is the only free-running hour in qualifying and race-representing conditions.
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