Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc led the way in the first practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix, finishing just 0.076 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris. Carlos Sainz of Ferrari took third place, followed closely by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Norris enters the weekend 59 points behind Verstappen in the championship standings, making it crucial for him to close the gap to keep his title aspirations alive.
Last year, Singapore was the only race where Red Bull did not secure a victory, and the team anticipates a challenging weekend ahead.
Max Verstappen experienced understeer during the first practice session, finishing 0.334 seconds behind the fastest time. After the session, he was called to the stewards for allegedly breaching the sporting code due to swearing in an official news conference, following comments from FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem about avoiding profanity during broadcasts.
Ben Sulayem had expressed a desire for F1 not to air swearing from drivers during sessions. While team radio is usually delayed for bleeping out explicit language, Verstappen and other drivers, including Lewis Hamilton, pushed back against this idea, with Hamilton accusing Ben Sulayem of using “stereotypical” and racially charged language.
The practice session at the challenging Marina Bay street circuit saw no crashes, though Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso both had close calls at Turn Eight, with Alonso inadvertently signaling to pit while correcting his slide.
Yuki Tsunoda of Red Bull finished fifth, followed by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. Piastri, the recent winner of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, had a delayed start due to a left-rear corner failure during pit-stop practice but managed to join the session 15 minutes in. He brushed against the wall but sustained no significant damage, finishing 0.606 seconds off Leclerc’s pace.
Daniel Ricciardo, whose future with the team is uncertain, finished seventh, ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon, Alonso, and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.
