Aston Martin's Alonso Leads Opening Session at Marina Bay
F1 Singapore
This weekend features the race kicking off at 13:00 BST on Sunday.
Real-time commentary provided on digital platforms and BBC Sport.
Opening Round Highlights
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso topped the times ahead of Scuderia star and Dutch ace in first practice at the Singapore Grand Prix.
The British team's championship contenders Australian rookie and Lando Norris concluded the run in mid-table positions.
Piastri was a notable margin speedier than Norris.
The experienced Spaniard was 0.150secs leading of the Ferrari driver and over a quarter of a second faster than Verstappen.
The Italian squad's Lewis Hamilton was P4.
Car Performance
It is not expected that the Silverstone-based team will be front-runners for the top spot.
Nonetheless, the team are hopeful of a improved performance on a low-speed track that is ideally suited to their vehicle, which runs more competitively when plenty of aerodynamic grip are required.
Double world title winner Fernando is also famous as a Singapore specialist, and often shines on the Marina Bay street track.
Yet he was almost certainly operating with a lighter load or a higher engine mode than his rivals, or both, to set such a quick time.
Practice Conditions
His team-mate Lance Stroll was 1.918secs behind in the lower order.
Stroll had problems with his driving position at the start and was also testing new components.
Opening practice in Singapore is not indicative of later performance later in the weekend as it is run in daylight in late afternoon, while grid-deciding session and the main event are run after dark.
Title Battle
The McLaren driver leads Norris by 25 points with remaining rounds left heading into the Grand Prix in Singapore.
McLaren are in position to wrap up the constructors' championship on the weekend.
Sole scenario they can miss out in this race is if Mercedes surpass them by 31 points or the Scuderia manage it by a similar margin.
Rival Teams
The energy drink brand's team are hopeful of a good performance after recent successes in the previous rounds preceding this event.
The team breathed a sigh when drizzle occurring before the session stopped by the moment the machines emerged on a surface that had stayed clear.
Motorsport adviser Helmut Marko stated ahead of practice that they wanted a dry hour to make a comprehensive start on optimizing their chassis settings for the weekend.
