It’s time for the first practise session of the weekend in Singapore. Before the beginning of the session, latest GP winner Oscar Piastri’s rear left wheel got stuck on his McLaren car during pit stop practise. The papaya team hopes that the issue will be solved by the end of the session, in order to ensure that the young Australian driver will get to take part in the session as well.
The Sauber driver duo was out first, with Zhou reporting the need for a lighter visor on his helmet, followed by the Racing Bulls sporting a special denim livery for the weekend. Leclerc is the first to set a lap time in 1:37.845s, with the Mercedes besting his effort shortly after with 1:36s laps.
However, it’s Norris who sets the benchmark after the first set of attempts with a 1:35.522s. Magnussen appears to be starting his first weekend back after the race ban with the right foot, setting the sixth best time.
Hamilton and Colapinto both had a moment at Turn 13 on their following laps, almost coming into contact with the wall, as Tsunoda becomes the first driver to sign a 1:34s lap.
Sainz and Verstappen cycle at the lead, but the only McLaren driver running goes fastest again with a 1:33.903s amidst the clamour surrounding the legality of his rear wing. Times are thumbling as Tsunoda, Stroll and Leclerc rapidly switch at P2, but the lead is strongly in the hands of the young British driver, who lowers his time to 1:33.199s, 0.840s ahead of the Ferrari driver.
The first yellow flag of the day was issued due to Pérez running long at Turn 14 and having to turn his car in the runoff. Ricciardo is yet to turn in a lap 15 minutes into the session due to the team not being able to take off the aero rake from his car, as Piastri begins his Singapore track exploration. His first flying lap brings him up to P15.
Bottas mentions being blocked by Colapinto on the radio while Alex Albon moves up to P3 and Leclerc goes fastest in 1:32.703s twenty minutes into the session. The Thai driver’s provisional podium stint is cut short by latest winner in Singapore Carlos Sainz slotting in ahead of him.
At the halfway point of the session Norris returns to the top spot, with Verstappen and Hamilton joining him on the provisional podium with their first attempt on softs, compared to Ferrari’s hards. The Italian team is also sporting an upgraded front wing.
Top ten features Norris, Verstappen, Hamilton, Leclerc, Sainz, Albon, Ricciardo, Russell, Colapinto and Ocon.
Albon and Tsunoda’s soft runs move them up to P4 and P2 respectively, while Sainz’s attempt is only 0.001s off his former teammate’s time. Bottas gets blocked on yet another flying lap, this time by Sergio Perez, meanwhile Leclerc runs wide on the curbs.
Norris lowers his time once again, becoming the first driver to sign a lap in the 1:31s. Alonso ran wide and almost made contact with the wall, whereas Pérez gets blocked by Albon. Leclerc gets provisional P1 with 15 minutes to go, signing a 1:31.763s.
Tsunoda gets blocked in the narrow straight by Stroll. Piastri almost made contact with the wall running wide on the dust. Hamilton mentions difficulties with his tyres, and Sainz with his brakes. Pérez opens up about not being able to stop with his front right tyre, running wide at Turn 12.
Chequered flag is out as Leclerc’s previous is run is confirmed as the best of the session. Norris and Sainz complete the podium, while Verstappen and a surprising Tsunoda are in the top 5. Piastri and Ricciardo managed to find their way into the top 10 in spite of their early session woes, ahead of Albon, Alonso and Ocon.
