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.
2023 FIA Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:33.350 25 190.508
2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:33.428 0.078 24 190.349
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:33.476 0.126 22 190.252
4 Lando Norris McLaren 1:33.522 0.172 24 190.158
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:33.540 0.190 21 190.121
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:33.695 0.345 25 189.807
7 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 1:33.725 0.375 22 189.746
8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:33.974 0.624 28 189.243
9 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:34.042 0.692 25 189.106
10 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:34.066 0.716 24 189.058
11 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:34.568 1.218 25 188.055
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:34.639 1.289 23 187.914
13 Alexander Albon Williams 1:34.657 1.307 19 187.878
14 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:34.802 1.452 25 187.590
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:34.887 1.537 23 187.422
16 Liam Lawson AlphaTauri 1:34.894 1.544 27 187.409
17 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 1:34.985 1.635 22 187.229
18 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:35.456 2.106 25 186.305
19 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:35.474 2.124 22 186.270
20 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:35.778 2.428 24 185.67
