Singapore GP: Leclerc edges Norris in intense first practice

Charles Leclerc topped Friday’s opening practice for the Singapore Grand Prix in a highly intense and frantic FP1 that resembled a proper qualifying session.

The leading Ferrari driver appeared on the ragged edge at time, but edged McLaren’s Lando Norris by 0.076s while his Scuderia teammate Carlos Sainz completed the top three.

Behind the leading trio, Max Verstappen was fourth as Red Bull struggled to join the top-three party, as did Mercedes, with both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell concluding practice a lowly P12 and P16.

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The weekend’s opening practice hadn’t even started yet when McLaren hit trouble, with the team diagnosing an issue on the rear-left corner of Piastri’s car.

The Aussie’s crews were hard at work, scrambling to get the car up and running as soon as possible.

Drivers took to a predictably dirty and dusty track basking in 32°C ambient temperatures so grip was unsurprisingly at a premium at the outset as Daniel Ricciardo led the field at the end of the pitlane when the lights went green.

Hamilton provided an early benchmark on the hard tyre, but as the usual suspects kicked into gear, Norris and then Leclerc picked up the baton.

The McLaren charger – now running on the soft rubber – continued to hustle his MCL38 around Marina Bay to recoup the top spot, edging Verstappen by two tenths of a second, while Hamilton was third.

Oddly, the top contenders appeared eager to indulge in soft-shod qualifying simulations early on in the session, fearing perhaps a bout of rain scheduled for later in the day.

Both Williams drivers also pressed on to slot in among the top five, as did RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, but the ragged-edge style of many drivers was leaving no margin for error, although the fans in the grandstands were delighted with the all-in action.

While improvements were in order as the track rubbered in, Norris remained out of reach, the Briton heading Leclerc, Sainz and Verstappen.

But eventually, with 15 minutes to go, Leclerc managed to overhaul the Ferrari with a 1m31.763s that left Norris just 0.076s adrift.

Meanwhile, Mercedes continued to struggle with Hamilton and Russell both sitting outside of the top-ten. Over at McLaren, Piastri was lucky to get away with a pair of scraped rims after dangerously brushing the wall.

As the session entered its closing stages, all drivers switched to high-fuel running, which meant that Leclerc remained untroubled at the top of the timing screens, the Monegasque delivering to Ferrari an early edge over McLaren and Red Bull.

Behind Norris, Sainz and Verstappen, a solid effort allowed Tsunoda to complete the top five, the Japanese driver heading Piastri, Ricciardo, Albon, Alonso and Alpine Esteban Ocon who closed out the top ten.

Mercedes joined Haas and Sauber as the only teams to have both their cars among the second half of the field, so evidently more work to do for the Silver Arrows squad.

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