#SingaporeGP FP1: @CharlesLeclerc heads @ScuderiaFerrari one-two. #F1

Leclerc Singapore GP FP1 – Charles Leclerc lead from team-mate Carlos Sainz in a Ferrari one-two in the opening FP1 session at the Singapore GP, which was interrupted three times by lizards as championship leader Max Verstappen completed the top three for Red Bull.

Leclerc posted the session-topping benchmark of a 1:33.350 on the C5 red side-walled softer compounds and was a very narrow 0.078 seconds quicker than Sainz with Verstappen a further 0.126 adrift of the Monegasque driver.

McLaren’s Lando Norris first two flyers lead the way at the head of the time-sheets for much of the opening proceedings, where the drivers built up to speed on the dusty Marina Bay Street Circuit running the two harder compounds – oversteer the challenge in the slower opening corners early on.

The Ferrari duo and Mercedes’ Sir Lewis Hamilton demoted Norris back as their long opening stints on the white-marked C3 harder tyres headed towards their conclusions, before the Briton – fitted the C4 yellow-branded mediums – reclaimed top spot on a 1:34.776.

The field headed back to the pits just after the 20-minute mark of the hour-long session, after which Alpine’s Pierre Gasly lead the pack to switch over to the softer rubber approaching the halfway point.

The Frenchman’s effort did not better Norris’s time on the mediums and when the majority of the drivers went out on the red side-walled compounds, their out-laps were interrupted by a yellow flag at turn eight due to a lizard on circuit.

Once it moved on after two minutes, Mercedes’ George Russell and Sainz finally jumped Norris’s medium effort with their opening softs hot-lap, before the McLaren driver got back in-front posting a 1:33.522 after he had also put on the softs.

The big track evolution of the track earlier in the session meant drivers were finding time even after a few tours on the softs, Leclerc went fastest on a 1:33.350 as FP1 went past it’s two-third mark.

Verstappen slotted into second place moments later, 0.126 seconds off the Ferrari driver as the Dutchman complained that his RB19 racer was oversteering too much in the early phase as he ran in the lower places of the top ten and feeling it had “very aggressive downshifts.”

After many drivers made a quicker trip back to the pits than during the early from the hards to the softs, Sainz edged ahead of Verstappen to be narrowly behind team-mate Leclerc by 0.078 seconds.

With the final ten minutes left on the clock, Leclerc set an effort that just only failed to beat his best lap, after which a second lizard appearance slightly further down the track towards the left-hand turn nine brought out another yellow flag – although it remained out for a much shorter period.

A few drivers including leaders Leclerc, Sainz and Verstappen, returned to the harder compounds for the final part of proceedings, where a lizard Russell claimed was different to the others, which briefly entered the circuit around turns eight and nine.

Norris, who was running a series of updates on the MCL60 (which were not as yet available for team-mate Oscar Piastri) took fourth and in-front of Mercedes pairing Hamilton and Russell who were fifth and sixth respectively.

The other Red Bull RB19 entry of Sergio Perez placed seventh in the order and ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso who was eighth whilst Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon completed the top ten.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll finished Free Practice One outside the top ten in 11th place and ahead of Alpine’s Gasly who was 12th, Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon who came 13th in the order as Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas took 14th.

Haas F1 Team pairing Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg placed 15th and 17th respectively as AlphaTauri’s Liam Lawson split the duo in 16th.

Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu (who will remain with the Hinwil-based squad for 2024) ended the session in 18th and in-front of McLaren’s Piastri and Williams’ Logan Sargeant who brought up the rear.

You can see the full Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2023 Free Practice 1 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2023/races/1219/singapore/practice-1.html

#F1 Singapore Airlines #SingaporeGP 2023 Preview. #Formula1 #SingaporeGrandPrix