Aston Martin's Alonso Sets Pace Opening Session at Singapore Grand Prix

F1 Singapore

Race weekend will see the grand prix beginning at British Summer Time on race day.

Real-time commentary provided on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sport.

Practice Session Overview

Aston Martin's Spanish veteran was fastest in front of Scuderia star and reigning champion during first practice at the Marina Bay race.

McLaren's drivers Australian rookie and British talent wrapped up the run in P5 and P6.

Piastri was a notable margin faster than the Briton.

Alonso was a tenth and a half ahead of the Ferrari driver and over a quarter of a second faster than the Red Bull star.

The Italian squad's seven-time champion was P4.

Weekend Outlook

Unlikely that Aston Martin will be contenders for P1.

That said, the outfit are hopeful of a improved performance on a low-speed track that is better matched to their car, which runs more competitively when significant amounts of downforce are required.

Double world title winner Fernando is also known as a Singapore specialist, and usually excels on the night race venue.

However he was almost certainly operating with reduced weight or a increased power than his competitors, or a combination, to achieve that pace.

Practice Conditions

Fellow driver Lance Stroll was almost two seconds behind in 18th place.

He had problems with his driving position at the start and was also testing new components.

The first session in Marina Bay is not representative of race pace under lights as it is conducted in daylight in the daytime, while qualifying and the grand prix are staged after dark.

Title Battle

The McLaren driver leads Norris by 25 points with seven races to go as they approach the Grand Prix in Singapore.

McLaren are set to wrap up the manufacturers' crown on Sunday.

The only way they can miss out in Singapore is if Mercedes beat them by thirty-one or Ferrari achieve that by a similar margin.

Competitor Outlook

The energy drink brand's team are optimistic of a strong result after recent successes in Italy and Azerbaijan preceding this Grand Prix.

They were relieved when light rain falling before the session cleared by the time the cars went out on a circuit that had stayed clear.

Senior figure the Austrian commented before the session that they wanted a clear session to get underway on optimizing their car configuration for the event.