Singapore GP: Alonso surprises with P1 but huge questions remain after FP1

Fernando Alonso secured a surprise P1 in the opening practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix, but the afternoon is one of the more unrepresentative on the calendar.

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was second ahead of Red Bull star and reigning world champion Max Verstappen.

Not the most conclusive session but Alonso was quickest in FP1 in Singapore

As the track temperature hit 36°C, the drivers ventured out for FP1 with several, including Charles Leclerc, trialling the cooling vest.

Max Verstappen set the early pace with a 1:35.501 as Alex Albon pulled into the pits with a brake fire.

Stopping in his pit box with his rear right on fire, Albon’s mechanics tried to extinguish it before manually turning the wheels to spin the brake disc to get cool air to it. His rear left was also on fire.

While his rivals continued lapping, Lewis Hamilton up to a 1:33.927, Albon climbed out of his car rubbing his eyes and his mechanics still struggled to extinguish the fire.

His teammate Carlos Sainz was the next to slot into P1 before he was dropped by Oscar Piastri and found himself in the middle of a McLaren sandwich, 0.08s down on the Australian and 0.07 up Lando Norris.

Williams reported: “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.”

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Twenty minutes into the hour-long session, Norris went quickest with a 1:32.493, putting him 0.02s ahead of Verstappen with both drivers on the hard Pirellis.

Fernando Alonso was the quickest of the medium runners in third, 0.099s. No one had yet to try the soft tyres.

Swapping to the soft tyres, Charles Leclerc hit the front with a 1:31.266, a tenth up on Verstappen with Piastri third.

The championship leader wasn’t impressed with Leclerc’s teammate Lewis Hamilton at Turn 1, telling McLaren: “The Ferrari will invent mirrors one day, I hope.”

Piastri went on to have a minor moment with the wall.

Heading into the final 10 minutes, only Sainz in eighth ahead of Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon inside the top ten had not set their best time on the soft tyres.

Alonso in the Aston Martin was quickest on a 1:31.116, 0.214s up on Leclerc.

Gabriel Bortoleto found traffic in the form of Piastri, commenting over team radio: “What the f**k is he doing there?”

The session ended with Alonso quickest of all ahead of Leclerc and Verstappen.

Singapore GP FP1 times

1 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:31.116
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.150
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.276
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.364
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.365
6 Lando Norris McLaren +0.582
7 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.639
8 Carlos Sainz Williams +0.696
9 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing +0.744
10 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team +1.012
11 George Russell Mercedes +1.023
12 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber +1.199
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.262
14 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +1.283
15 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +1.345
16 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team +1.422
17 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber +1.495
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1.918
19 Franco Colapinto Alpine +2.208
20 Alex Albon Williams no time

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