Alonso lights up sweltering Singapore FP1 as Albon’s Williams catches fire
Fernando Alonso made the Marina Bay heat look positively inviting, hustling his Aston Martin to the top of the times in a scrappy, sun‑splashed opening practice for the Singapore Grand Prix. The two-time champion clocked a 1:31.116 to lead Charles Leclerc by 0.150s, with Max Verstappen third. Useful? Not much. Entertaining? Absolutely.
FP1 here is the odd one out: it runs in the afternoon, on a hot, green circuit that will bear little resemblance to qualifying and the race under the lights. Still, there was plenty to chew on.
Track temperature hovered at 36°C when the pit lane opened, several drivers—Leclerc among them—experimenting with cooling vests as they rolled out. Verstappen set the first meaningful marker at 1:35.501 before the session’s drama landed in the Williams garage: Alex Albon parked with both rear brakes ablaze, the right-rear visibly on fire as his crew fought to cool the red‑hot disc, even spinning the wheel by hand to push air through the duct. Albon climbed out rubbing his eyes as the smoke lingered. Williams later called it a “rear brake hardware problem,” confirmed he’d sit out FP1, and sounded confident of a fix for FP2.
Up front, the order shuffled as the circuit rubbered in. Lewis Hamilton briefly went quickest with a 1:33.927, Carlos Sainz popped his Williams into P1 for a heartbeat, and then McLaren went to work on the hard tyre: Lando Norris dipped to a 1:32.493, Oscar Piastri slotted close behind, and Alonso stood out as the fastest on mediums.
Softs arrived and the times tumbled. Leclerc fired in a 1:31.266 to headline, a tenth clear of Verstappen, with Piastri third. The Australian didn’t love the traffic—he brushed the wall and was unimpressed with Hamilton’s spatial awareness at Turn 1, radioing a pointed line about Ferrari mirrors. He wasn’t alone in the frustration; Kick Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto found Piastri in the wrong place at the wrong time and made his feelings known over the radio too.
The final ten minutes saw the usual soft-tyre flourish. Alonso pieced together a clean lap to jump to the top by two tenths, and that was that. Leclerc stayed second, Verstappen third, while Hamilton—now in Ferrari red—kept himself in the fight in fourth. McLaren stacked five and six, separated by a thousandth as Piastri edged Norris.
There were eye-catching notes deeper in the order. Isack Hadjar continued to look racy in the Racing Bulls with P7, Sainz ended up eighth for Williams, and Yuki Tsunoda gave Red Bull both cars in the top ten in ninth. Esteban Ocon put Haas into P10 with a tidy run. George Russell led Mercedes’ timesheet in 11th, Kimi Antonelli was 14th on his first Singapore weekend in F1 machinery, and Lance Stroll couldn’t quite unlock the Aston in P18. Franco Colapinto logged laps for Alpine in 19th; Albon recorded no time.
It bears repeating: the story changes when the sun goes down. Grip comes up, engine modes creep higher, and the soft tyre starts to sing. But an Aston on top, Ferrari looking lively, McLaren sharp on the hards, and Red Bull lurking? That’s a tasty starter.
Singapore GP FP1 top 10
– 1. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin – 1:31.116
– 2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari – +0.150
– 3. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing – +0.276
– 4. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari – +0.364
– 5. Oscar Piastri, McLaren – +0.365
– 6. Lando Norris, McLaren – +0.582
– 7. Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls – +0.639
– 8. Carlos Sainz, Williams – +0.696
– 9. Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing – +0.744
– 10. Esteban Ocon, Haas – +1.012
What to watch in FP2
– Aston vs Ferrari on long runs: Alonso’s one-lap looked hooked up, but race pace after dark will tell us if Aston’s balance holds when the track comes to the field.
– McLaren’s ceiling: Norris and Piastri were quick without leaning on the soft early. There’s more in that car.
– Red Bull’s rhythm: Verstappen looked comfortable from the outset. If the circuit rubbers in as expected, the RB should edge closer to the front.
– Williams recovery plan: All eyes on Albon’s rebuilt rear brakes and Sainz’s baseline on high fuel.
FP1 won’t decide anything—but it did set a mood. Alonso and Aston Martin have arrived with a bit of swagger, and the grid’s heavy hitters are circling. Now we wait for the floodlights.
