Alonso tops FP1 as Marina Bay action kicks off

Fernando Alonso stole the spotlight in Singapore’s first practice, leading over Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen in a lively opening session.

Setting the stage for a weekend of extreme physicality and bold competition, the first hour of practice around the gruelling streets of Marina Bay was a hot one, however, it wasn’t enough to deter 20 eager drivers as they maximised their first session on track. 

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With the shield of clouds providing some relief from the Singapore sun, Liam Lawson guided the field out of the pitlane to start Free Practice 1.

Armed with the popular hard compound tyre, it took the Kiwi a short while to find his groove as he circulated over 1.8 seconds behind the benchmark pace, with his teammate also almost one second clear as Hadjar tracked within the top ten. 

After a short reset in the pitlane, Lawson was back on track with a fresh set of the white-marked tyre, however, personal best sectors were few and far between. 

As the session reached the halfway point, his teammate started to clock fastest sector times in P3, while Lawson made personal improvements to jump into P7 with a time just two-tenths behind the benchmark.

After another stint in the pitlane, Lawson rejoined the action with just over 20 minutes on the clock.

The Kiwi completed three flying laps on the soft compound tyre, recording his fastest time of a 1:32.461s, which ultimately left him in P14.

Swapping back to the hard compound tyre, Lawson rounded out the hour by completing a high fuel program before joining his competitors on the grid for his first practice start of the weekend.

Oscar Piastri opened his redemption campaign with a brief nine-lap stint on the hard compound tyre, recording his fastest time of a 1:33.239s before returning to the pitlane in P8 for an extended period of the session.

With 25 minutes on the clock, the championship leader returned to the track on the soft compound tyre, however, it wasn’t the smoothest stint with Piastri reporting his MCL39 felt “very understeery” across the lap, and particularly at Turn 9.

Growing frustrated, Piastri also found himself being held up by Lewis Hamilton as traffic proved to be an issue across the hour, before finding himself a roadblock for Gabriel Bortoleto as the session evolved.

The Australian’s biggest moment of the session came at Turn 17, with the #81 instantly asking the McLaren pit wall to “check the right side of the car” after he made heavy contact with the wall. 

At his peak, Piastri moved into the top three with a fastest time of 1:31.481s, before dropping down the order to P5 as the high fuel runs took place.

In the final minute of FP1, Piastri had another dicey moment on the exit kerbs at Turn 7, however, the Australian made it safely back to the McLaren garage as the chequered flag flew.

As for the rest of the field, it was a busy start to the session when all 20 drivers occupied the 4.9km circuit, however, one was quickly forced to retreat to pitlane when his rear brakes caught fire, leaving Williams’ Car No. 23 smoking as Alex Albon jumped clear to avoid the suffocating output.

It was a challenge for the Williams mechanics to extinguish the fiery hardware complication, with FIA delegates lending a hand to contain the mess which eventually saw the Thai driver sitting out of the bulk of the session.

On track, Albon’s teammate was still on a high after finishing with a standout podium effort in Baku, with Carlos Sainz shooting to the top of the order during the first 15 minutes of the session.

The Spaniard sat among the likes of McLaren, Ferrari, and his compatriot, Fernando Alonso, who was one of the first to don the medium compound tyre as he put over four-tenths of difference between himself and the hard tyre crowd.

Setting purple sector after purple sector, Lando Norris recorded a time of 1:32.493s to reclaim the top spot after 20 minutes of running, however, just as is the case in the drivers’ championship, Max Verstappen wasn’t too far behind, as just 21 milliseconds separated the duo.

During the mid-session lull, Alonso was one of a few drivers to remain on track, continuing to push on the medium compound tyre and reaping a positive result as he boosted his Aston Martin back into the top spot, demoting Norris’ quickest effort by four-tenths before Sainz had his say.

A 1:31.812s from the driver in Car No. 55 soon became the new benchmark to beat when the rest of the field started to file out of the pitlane, however, even in the face of Lance Stroll’s first soft tyre dash, Sainz’s time held its own.

The circuit started to reveal its challenges as the minutes ticked by, with Norris escaping contact with the wall at Turn 17 early on in FP1, while Kimi Antonelli was faced with the marginal nature of optimal tyre temperature in Singapore after sliding through the first corner.

Despite many dusting off the cobwebs, Pierre Gasly was the only driver across the hour to bring out yellow flags, with the Alpine driver aborting into the run-off area during his opening stint.

Most drivers had reacquainted themselves with the 4.9km circuit by the time the soft tyres were on display, with Charles Leclerc proving that theory correct when he instantly lit up the timesheets.

Sitting almost half a second clear of Norris in P2, Leclerc set the opening red-marked target of a 1:32.266s, before, in the final ten minutes of the session, the veteran Spaniard made his presence known once again, jumping to the top with the aid of a purple effort through Sector 3. 

As the sun started to set and the high fuel runs kicked off, Alonso’s time of 1:31.116s remained unchallenged through to the chequered flag.

The Aston Martin driver finished FP1 as the fastest driver on track, with Leclerc trailing Alonso by 0.150s, while Verstappen rounded out the top three as he sat 0.276s back.

Alonso’s time at the top won’t last long, however, with Free Practice 2 taking place under the floodlights in just a few hours’ time.

The second hour of practice will kick off at 23:00 AEST, with conditions representative of tomorrow night’s Qualifying shootout and Sunday night’s launch.

Image: Aston Martin F1 Team

Singapore GP Free Practice 1 Results:

2025 Singapore Grand Prix Schedule (AEST):

Friday, October 3rd:

FP1: 19:30 – 20:30

FP2: 23:00 – 00:00

Saturday, October 4th:

FP3: 19:30 – 20:30

Qualifying: 23:00 – 00:00

Sunday, October 5th:

Race: 23:00

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