Max Verstappen set the early pace for Red Bull in opening practice for the Singapore Grand Prix.
Under hazy skies in the late afternoon at Marina Bay, conditions were certainly very different than they’ll be in qualifying and the race under the lights.
Still, that didn’t stop the teams completing a good amount of running as drivers built up their confidence on the twisty street circuit.
One of the main characteristics is always the high level of track evolution as the cars begin cleaning the dusty surface and that was very evident as the fastest time tumbled during the early laps.
Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton traded initial quickest times with the latter getting a small advantage but a split tyre approach would mix up the final order.
Staying on the soft compound, the Dutchman posted a 1m40.259s to beat the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel by just over one-and-a-half tenths on the same rubber.
Mercedes though switching to the hard tyre, with Hamilton slotting into third, two-thirds of a second down on the Red Bull.
The second series of runs would be disrupted by a crash for Valtteri Bottas at Turn 19, as the rear couldn’t cope with the Finn’s aggressive style through the sequence of slow 90-degree corners.
His collision with the barriers led to a red flag to clear the stricken Mercedes.
Minutes earlier, Charles Leclerc’s session was also brought to an early end as an apparent gearbox issue left the Monegasque freewheeling back to the pits.
Until that point, it had been a quiet session for Ferrari, as they tested a new upgrade for Singapore, including changes to the nose section.
Having not set an out and out flying lap then, Leclerc would end the session 19th overall.
Alex Albon is unsurprisingly taking a little longer to get upto speed on his first trip to Marina Bay, but the Thai driver was still fifth fastest for Red Bull with the 1.2s gap to teammate Verstappen only expected to get smaller.
The midfield order will be fascinating to watch as several teams bring significant upgrades, including Alfa Romeo and Racing Point.
But, after their best result of the season in Monza though, it was Renault leading the way with Nico Hulkenberg in sixth, 0.7s faster than teammate Daniel Ricciardo as the Australian sat P11.
McLaren would be right behind one of their main rivals for P4 in the Constructors’ standing as Carlos Sainz marginally led Lando Norris in seventh and eighth.
Finally, Toro Rosso’s strength on street circuits was also on show as Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly made a promising start by round out the top 10.
Unsurprisingly, those team evaluating new parts were a little off the pace, but the midfield pack remained pretty tight as only 1.3s covered P6-P16 on one of the longest laps of the year in terms of lap time.
Towards the back, Williams showed some potential as Robert Kubica, who announced his exit after this season, sat 17th while seat issues left teammate George Russell bottom of the timesheet.
Full results from Practice 1 in Singapore can be seen below:
