Leclerc pips Norris with fastest FP1 time at F1 Singapore GP

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc led the way after the opening practice session of the Singapore Grand Prix as McLaren’s Lando Norris finished seven-thousandths of a second behind. 

Feature image credit: Scuderia Ferrari

Formula 1 returned to the Singaporean Marina Bay Street Circuit for the 18th round of the F1 2024 world championship. 

McLaren has taken over the lead in the constructor’s championship. However, the former championship leaders, Red Bull Racing have their driver Max Verstappen out ahead in the driver’s standings with seven races left to go.

It was business as usual at the Marina Bay track as all of the drivers were able to keep out of trouble. 

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri had the closest moment, late on in the session, at turn 10 when the Australian when he had touched the wall. Still, he was able to continue to the pits before continuing. 

How FP1 ended…

Leclerc was fastest overall in the Asian city-state with a 1m 31.763s as Norris completed the session in second, 0.076s behind whereas – Leclerc’s teammate – Carlos Sainz completed the top three. 

Red Bull’s leading drivers champion, Max Verstappen occupied fourth-fastest after the first hour as RB’s Yuki Tsuonda rounded out the top five. 

Piastri led the bottom five, inside the top 10, in sixth ahead of fellow Australian and RB driver Daniel Ricciardo, in seventh. Williams’ Alexander Albon was eighth ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, in ninth and 10th. 

Williams’ latest points-scorer, Franco Colapinto led the bottom 10 drivers as the Argentine finished FP1 0.855s off the pace. He was closely followed by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, in 12th and 13th respectively, as the last drivers within a second of the benchmark time. 

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez finished 14th as Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll rounded out the top 15 drivers. 

Mercedes’ George Russell was the fifth-slowest driver of the field after the opening hour, ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen – in 17th – who returns to the series after his one-race ban for hitting 12 penalty points over 12 months. 

Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu occupied 18th and 19th, at the chequered flag, with Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg rounding out the 20-car field, two seconds off the pace.

Read more Formula 1 here:

• McLaren F1 reveal ‘Legend Reborn’ livery for Singapore GP
• VCARB reveal ‘fashion-inspired’ livery for Singapore GP
• Mercedes F1 reveal striking livery for Singapore GP
• Andrea Stella praises McLaren’s hard work after taking F1 championship lead
• Bahrain to host 2025 F1 pre-season tests
• Colapinto first F1 points ‘a fantastic feeling’ after Azerbaijan GP
• Sainz and Perez F1 Azerbaijan GP crash deemed racing incident

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.