Aston Martin's Alonso Leads First Session at Singapore
F1 Singapore
Race weekend features the race beginning at 1pm BST on Sunday.
Live commentary available on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sport.
Practice Session Overview
The team's Spanish veteran topped the times beating Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Dutch ace in FP1 at the Singapore Grand Prix.
The British team's drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris wrapped up the run in fifth and sixth.
The young Australian was 0.217 seconds quicker than Norris.
Alonso was a slim margin ahead of the Ferrari driver and a clear gap faster than the Red Bull star.
The Italian squad's British icon was just outside the top three.
Car Performance
Unlikely that Aston Martin will be in the mix for pole position.
However, the team are optimistic of a strong showing on a tight circuit that is more suited to their car, which runs more competitively when plenty of downforce are called for.
Double world title winner Alonso is also known as a Singapore specialist, and often shines on the night race venue.
However he was probably running reduced weight or a increased power than his rivals, or each, to set such a quick time.
Session Details
His team-mate Lance Stroll was 1.918secs behind in P18.
Stroll had problems with his driving position at the start and was also evaluating test items.
The first session in Marina Bay is not representative of later performance later in the weekend as it is held in bright conditions in late afternoon, while qualifying and the race are run under floodlights.
Points Situation
The McLaren driver is ahead of Norris by a solid margin with seven races to go as they approach the Grand Prix in Singapore.
McLaren are set to clinch the team title on the weekend.
Sole scenario they can miss out in Singapore is if the Silver Arrows beat them by thirty-one or Ferrari achieve that by thirty-five.
Red Bull Update
The energy drink brand's team are optimistic of a positive weekend after recent successes in the previous rounds preceding this weekend.
They were relieved when drizzle coming down before the session abated by the moment the machines took to the track on a circuit that had remained dry.
Team consultant Helmut Marko stated before the session that they required a dry hour to begin properly on optimizing their set-up for the weekend.
