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Leclerc tops FP1 as he foreshadows a problem for Norris in Singapore
Charles Leclerc has topped the first free practice session, with Lando Norris within one-tenth of the Ferrari driver. Leclerc's teammate, Carlos Sainz, rounded out the top three. Max Verstappen knocked on the door of the top three places, but the Red Bull driver was three-tenths behind the P1 time.
In his World Championship pursuit of Verstappen, Norris must maximise nearly every weekend in the 2024 Formula 1 season to succeed. In the first session at the Singapore GP weekend, he finished ahead of Verstappen, but it seems he will have to fight hard with Ferrari once again. Leclerc managed to get in the way in Monza and finished ahead of Norris in Baku as the Italian team looked to mount their own late Constructors' Championship surge. More details will emerge in FP2 as that is the session that better represents conditions in qualifying and the race.
The Red Bull wasn't on rails in FP1, but Verstappen was able to get within touching distance, suggesting he'll be in the mix this weekend. Yuki Tsunoda found himself in P5 with Oscar Piastri in P6. In fact, it was also a good session for Tsunoda's teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who finished seventh. Albon, Alonso and Ocon rounded out the top ten places.
What happened in FP1 for the Singapore Grand Prix?
The street track was highly dusty at the start of the session, and many drivers slid around the start. This included Hamilton, who avoided small contact with the wall in the opening minutes. This also resulted in drastic track evolution, making the leaderboard act like a fruit machine in the first ten minutes. But after 10 minutes, Verstappen and Norris started to pick up the pace. The Dutchman went three-tenths quicker than the previous best, for Norris to then smash it by half a second.
Sergio Perez caused the first yellow flag after being caught out with the bumps on the circuit. He missed the turning point and had to use the run-off zone. Verstappen then had a lockup at turn 14. But Red Bull were on the pace. After 30 minutes, Verstappen sat in second, just two-tenths behind Norris' best time on the soft tyres. Perez had a bit more difficulty getting up the timesheet and sat in P19 at this point.
Williams, who scored 10 points in Baku last week, raised some eyebrows in the midfield. Alex Albon moved to the top three (momentarily) on the soft tyres, with Franco Colapinto within two-tenths of his teammate. Sainz and Tsunoda pushed them down the order slightly. Leclerc had the potential to go faster but lost a bit of control in the final corner.
Fernando Alonso looked to be heading towards the wall after getting caught up on the kerb. But the Spanish driver made an impressive save. With 15 minutes to go, Leclerc moved to the top of the timesheet. In the final 10 minutes, Piastri clipped the wall and had to pit.