Alonso Tops First Session at Marina Bay
Marina Bay Street Circuit
This weekend includes the main event beginning at 1pm BST on Sunday.
Real-time updates available on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and mobile app.
FP1 Results Overview
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fastest in front of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Dutch ace during the opening session for the street circuit event.
The British team's title rivals Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris concluded the session in fifth and sixth.
Piastri was a notable margin speedier than the Briton.
The experienced Spaniard was a tenth and a half leading of Leclerc and 0.276secs clear than Verstappen.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton was just outside the top three.
Car Performance
It is not expected that the Silverstone-based team will be contenders for the top spot.
Nonetheless, the squad are confident of a better weekend on a tight circuit that is ideally suited to their chassis, which runs more competitively when high levels of aerodynamic grip are called for.
Veteran racer Alonso is also renowned as a Marina Bay expert, and usually excels on the Marina Bay street track.
However he was almost certainly running less fuel or a more aggressive setting than his rivals, or both, to set such a quick time.
Practice Conditions
Fellow driver Canadian racer was 1.918secs behind in P18.
The Canadian had issues with his cockpit during the initial runs and was also running test items.
Opening practice in Singapore is not reflective of race pace later in the weekend as it is held in daylight in the daytime, while qualifying and the grand prix are staged at night.
Championship Standings
The McLaren driver leads Norris by a quarter-century with remaining rounds ahead as they approach the Grand Prix in the Lion City.
McLaren are set to secure the manufacturers' crown on the weekend.
Sole scenario they can miss out in this race is if Mercedes beat them by thirty-one or the Scuderia manage it by 35.
Red Bull Update
Red Bull are hopeful of a good performance after Verstappen's victories in Italy and Azerbaijan leading into this weekend.
They were relieved when drizzle occurring ahead of FP1 cleared by the point the cars went out on a track that had not been wet.
Senior figure Red Bull's advisor stated ahead of practice that they wanted a clear session to get underway on understanding their chassis settings for the event.