Fernando Alonso, who made a spectacular save, is ninth on contact with Marina Bay
MADRID, 20 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) was the fastest in the first free practice session of the Singapore Grand Prix, the eighteenth round of the Formula 1 World Championship, ahead of British driver Lando Norris (McLaren), while Spaniards Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) were third and ninth respectively.
With a time of 1:31.763, Leclerc climbed to the top of the timesheets on the Marina Bay street circuit, 0.76 seconds ahead of Norris, who arrives in Singapore determined to reduce the 59-point lead in the standings that separates him from the leader, Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), fourth on Friday, three-tenths behind the Monegasque.
Sainz was almost two tenths behind his teammate, and Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda (RB) completed the top five, just ahead of the winner in Azerbaijan, Australian driver Oscar Piastri (McLaren). Daniel Ricciardo (RB), Thai driver Alex Albon (Williams), Alonso and French driver Esteban Ocon (Alpine) rounded out the top ten.
On the Asian track, where Sainz was crowned in 2023, McLaren, which in Baku materialised the ‘sorpasso’ over Red Bull in the Constructors’ World Championship, had to face problems at the start of the session. Piastri had to go to the garages to solve the problems with his left wheel, which got stuck in the pit-stop tests; ten minutes later, the mechanics corrected the fault and the Australian went out on track.
Meanwhile, his teammate Lando Norris had already set the first benchmark time, which he improved on the soft tyre (1:32.165) ahead of the Ferraris, still on mediums. Max Verstappen, who was late to go out, was soon two tenths behind the Briton.
Halfway through the session, both Scuderia cars were on the softer compound and times began to drop. Norris dropped below 1:32 (1:31.839), and Charles Leclerc was just 37 thousandths behind, who minutes later managed to take the lead on the timesheets (1:31.763). Sainz, meanwhile, was third, almost two tenths behind his teammate.
The most shocking moment came when Fernando Alonso had less than 20 minutes to go, when his car went off track and he managed to control it to avoid hitting the wall. The Spaniard’s response to his team’s radio question about whether he had pressed the pit lane button was brutal: “I pressed all the buttons I have to avoid the crash.”