F1 – Alonso tops opening practice in Singapore ahead of Leclerc and Verstappen
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso went quickest in the opening practice session for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 15 hundredths of a with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen in third place.
The daylight session at a dusty, low-grip Marina Bay Street Circuit kicked off with a number of drivers locking up on the slippery surface and with Williams battling to control a brake fire on Alex Albon’s car that saw the Thai driver finish last and with just two laps on the board.
However, as conditions improved the times began to fall and after 15 minutes Alonso sat at the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:32.592 set on Medium tyres. That was then beaten by McLaren title contender Lando Norris who posted a lap of 1:32.493 on C3 Hard compound tyres but 10 minutes later, Alonso was back on top with a lap of 1:32.054.
Azerbaijan GP podium finisher Carlos Sainz bolted a set of Medium tyres to his Williams and he moved ahead of his countryman with a lap of 1:31.812.
As the halfway point elapsed, a number of drivers made the move to softer Pirelli tyres and Leclerc lowered the benchmark to 1:31.266 with his first lap on the C5 tyres.
Norris and his championship-leading McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri got close to that but neither found enough time to bypass the Ferrari driver and after Verstappen had also fallen short it was Alonso who nipped ahead, with the veteran Spaniard posting a time of 1:31.117s on his opening soft-tyre effort to surpass Leclerc. He next earned him the smallest possible improvement to take the session top spot with a time of 1:31.116.
That left Leclerc in P2, 0.150 off the pace, and Verstappen in third, 0.276 off Alonso. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was fourth fastest, just under a tenth behind Verstappen and just 0.001s ahead of Piastri.
The Australian ended the session two tenths of a second ahead of sixth-placed Norris, with Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar seventh on his first outing at Marina Bay. Sainz’s Medium tyre time left him in P8 at the end of the session, ahead of Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda and Haas’ 10th-placed Esteban Ocon.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:31.116 23 194.666
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:31.266 0.150 25 194.346
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:31.392 0.276 24 194.078
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:31.480 0.364 23 193.891
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:31.481 0.365 25 193.889
6 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:31.698 0.582 22 193.430
7 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:31.755 0.639 28 193.310
8 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:31.812 0.696 27 193.190
9 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:31.860 0.744 25 193.089
10 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:32.128 1.012 24 192.527
11 George Russell Mercedes 1:32.139 1.023 22 192.504
12 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:32.315 1.199 29 192.137
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:32.378 1.262 26 192.006
14 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:32.399 1.283 24 191.963
15 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:32.461 1.345 27 191.834
16 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:32.538 1.422 25 191.674
17 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:32.611 1.495 27 191.523
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:33.034 1.918 18 190.652
19 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 1:33.324 2.208 26 190.060
20 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes – 2