Fernando Alonso Leads First Session at Singapore Grand Prix
Marina Bay Street Circuit
This weekend features the race beginning at 1pm BST on race day.
Live updates streamed on digital platforms and BBC Sport.
FP1 Results Highlights
Aston Martin's two-time champion topped the times beating Monegasque driver and Red Bull's Max Verstappen in FP1 for the Marina Bay race.
The British team's title rivals Oscar Piastri and British talent finished the practice in P5 and P6.
The young Australian was 0.217 seconds speedier than Norris.
Alonso was 0.150secs leading of Leclerc and 0.276secs quicker than Verstappen.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton was P4.
Team Strategies
It is not expected that the Silverstone-based team will be front-runners for P1.
Nonetheless, the squad are confident of a strong showing on a tight circuit that is ideally suited to their chassis, which runs more competitively when significant amounts of aerodynamic grip are required.
Two-time champion Fernando is also famous as a Marina Bay expert, and usually excels on the night race venue.
Yet he was almost certainly operating with less fuel or a increased power than his rivals, or each, to achieve that pace.
Session Details
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 test items.
The first session in Singapore is not indicative of conditions later in the weekend as it is run in bright conditions in early evening, while the shootout and the grand prix are staged at night.
Championship Standings
The McLaren driver is ahead of his teammate by a quarter-century with remaining rounds to go heading into the weekend in the Lion City.
McLaren are in position to secure the constructors' championship on Sunday.
Sole scenario they can fail to secure it in this race is if Mercedes outscore them by 31 points or the Scuderia achieve that by a similar margin.
Competitor Outlook
Red Bull are optimistic of a good performance after Max's wins in the previous rounds leading into this event.
The team breathed a sigh when drizzle coming down prior to running cleared by the point the vehicles went out on a surface that had stayed clear.
Team consultant Helmut Marko said before the session that they needed a dry hour to begin properly on fine-tuning their chassis settings for the event.
