Singapore, FP1: Leclerc heads Ferrari 1-2 in opening practice

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc topped the opening practice session for the 2023 FIA Singapore Grand Prix, finishing just under a tenth of a second clear of team-mate Carlos Sainz, with championship-leader Max Verstappen in third place.

Lando Norris, running a McLaren benefiting from a slew of upgrades, set the early pace with a lap of 1:37.895, and the English driver held sway for the opening quarter hour of the session.

Leclerc then posted a lap of 1:35.683 to topple the McLaren driver but the Monegasque driver was pipped by Sainz who was in turn beaten by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who took top spot with a lap of 1:35.571 set on Hard compound Pirelli tyres. Norris was back in charge moments later, however, thanks to a Medium-tyre time of 1:34.776.

The field then retreated to the pit lane before Alpine’s Pierre Gasly returned to the track with red-banded Soft compound tyres onboard.

He was unable to match Norris’s time and there was no scope for improvement anywhere else as yellow flags were then shown at Turn 8 due to a lizard walking across the track.

When the hazard cleared Mercedes’ George Russell edged ahead of Norris’ medium-shod time, with Sainz then moving ahead with his Soft tyre opener before Norris jumped ahead once more with a lap 1:33.522.

Leclerc then made a significant step, with the Ferrari driver posting a 1:33.350s with around 20 minutes left in the session. Verstappen was next on track but he couldn’t match the Ferrari driver and he took second place, 0.126s behind the Monegasque driver and then, as the session edged toward the final 10 minutes, Sainz found more time to beat Verstappen by 0.048s.

The field then began to move to harder compound tyres for the final part of the session, during which there were more yellows for further interruptions by reptiles on track.

With Verstappen third, Norris was left with fourth place 0.172 behind Leclerc, while Hamilton completed the top fiver order. Russell was sixth behind his team-mate, while Sergio Pérez was seventh in the second Red Bull, ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. Yuki Tsunoda was ninth for AlphaTauri and Esteban Ocon rounded out the top 10 for Alpine.