#F1 #SingaporeGP FP1: @CharlesLeclerc pips @LandoNorris by 0.076s.

Leclerc Singapore GP FP1 – Charles Leclerc topped the time-sheets in FP1 at the Singapore GP ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris who split the Ferrari duo as Carlos Sainz completed the top three.

Leclerc posted the session-topping benchmark with a 1:31.763 on the C5 red side-walled softer compounds and was a slim 0.076 seconds quicker than Norris as Sainz was a further 0.189 seconds off his leading team-mate in third.

Norris spent the early part of proceedings running the C4 yellow-branded mediums posting a 1:33.903 and followed that up with a 1:33.199, an effort which went largely unthreatened for the next five minutes.

The Ferrari pairing were touring the Marina Bay Street Circuit on the C3 harder tyre, which Leclerc used to set a 1:32.702 to demote Norris at the head of the leaderboard.

Norris then responded on the softer rubber and posted a 1:32.165 as a benchmark for the performance stints, a time no one was able to beat on their opening runs, although Sainz got within one-thousandth of the McLaren driver’s time on his initial attempt with the softest compound available.

On a second flyer with the same set of tyres, Norris beat his own effort setting a 1:31.839 to lower the benchmark even further. The Ferrari’s again got closer, Leclerc only 0.037 seconds adrift, and Sainz a further tenth outside of the Briton’s time.

Leclerc attempted another hot-lap on his C5’s and found almost eight hundredths of a second over Norris to go quickest, a time, which remained unbeaten as the drivers swapped over to the harder tyres available for the final part of proceedings.

As the opening Free Practice 1 session is held during daylight conditions, it offered unrepresentative conditions compared to those expected for qualifying and the Grand Prix.

The early runs were characterised by stints on the hard and medium compounds, as the track was notably dusty throughout the session’s early phase.

With Norris sandwiched between, the Scuderia has both SF-24 entries in the top three as Sainz was third quickest – over half-a-tenth faster than championship leader Max Verstappen who was fourth overall.

RB’s Yuki Tsunoda took his denim-liveried VCARB01 to fifth in the order as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri’s session suffered a lengthy delay by a fix to his rear-left upright after the Woking based-squad found a problem.

The Baku GP winner also survived a brush with the barrier at the rear right, causing little but minor cosmetic damage to his Mercedes-powered MCL38 racer.

The other VCARB01 entry of Daniel Ricciardo managed to get seventh quickest in the classification and 0.612 seconds off session-topper Leclerc’s benchmark.

Williams’ Alexander Albon was eighth as Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon rounded out the top 10.

Williams Racing’s Franco Colapinto came outside the top ten in 11^th place and ahead of Mercedes’ Hamilton who was 12^th, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who ended FP1 in 13^th place as Red Bull’s Sergio Perez sat 14^th in the classification.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll placed 15^th in the order and in-front of Mercedes’ George Russell who took a low-16^th whilst Haas F1 returnee Kevin Magnussen finished the session 17^th.

Sauber duo Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu ended opening practice in 18^th and 19^th as MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg brought up the rear.

You can see the full Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2024 Free Practice 1 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2024/races/1246/singapore/practice/1

#F1 Singapore Airlines #SingaporeGP 2024 Preview

2024 F1 World Championship Standings