Aston Martin's Alonso Tops First Session at Singapore
Marina Bay Street Circuit
Race weekend will see the main event starting at 1pm BST on Sunday.
Live coverage streamed on digital platforms and BBC Sport.
FP1 Results Overview
The team's two-time champion topped the times beating Monegasque driver and reigning champion in first practice at the Marina Bay race.
McLaren's drivers Oscar Piastri and British talent wrapped up the practice in P5 and P6.
The young Australian was 0.217 seconds quicker than his teammate.
Alonso was 0.150secs leading of the Ferrari driver and 0.276secs faster than the Red Bull star.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton was P4.
Weekend Outlook
It is not expected that Aston Martin will be in the mix for pole position.
Nonetheless, the team are optimistic of a better weekend on a low-speed track that is more suited to their chassis, which performs better when significant amounts of downforce are needed.
Two-time champion Alonso is also famous as a street circuit master, and typically performs well on the Marina Bay street track.
However he was likely running a lighter load or a increased power than his competitors, or a combination, to set such a quick time.
Session Details
His team-mate Canadian racer was 1.918secs off the pace in 18th place.
He had problems with his seat during the initial runs and was also testing experimental parts.
Opening practice in Singapore is not representative of conditions later in the weekend as it is run in afternoon sun in early evening, while qualifying and the race are staged after dark.
Championship Standings
Piastri leads Norris by 25 points with remaining rounds left entering the event in the Lion City.
The Woking-based team are in position to clinch the team title on Sunday.
Sole scenario they can miss out in Singapore is if the Silver Arrows surpass them by over thirty or the Scuderia manage it by a similar margin.
Rival Teams
The energy drink brand's team are hopeful of a positive weekend after Max's wins in Monza and Baku preceding this Grand Prix.
It was a relief when precipitation falling ahead of FP1 stopped by the time the cars went out on a surface that had not been wet.
Motorsport adviser the Austrian stated before the session that they wanted a clear session to get underway on understanding their chassis settings for the weekend.
