F1

Charles Leclerc quickest in opening practice session at Singapore Grand Prix

The Ferrari driver edged out McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Charles Leclerc finished runner-up at last weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Charles Leclerc finished runner-up at last weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix (David Davies/PA)
By Philip Duncan, PA F1 Correspondent, Singapore

Charles Leclerc stuck the first blow in Singapore by topping the time sheets in first practice for Sunday’s race in the city state.

The Ferrari driver, who finished runner-up to McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in Azerbaijan last weekend, edged out Lando Norris to take first place.

Norris, 59 points behind Max Verstappen in the championship standings with seven races to go, finished just 0.076 seconds off the pace.

Leclerc’s team-mate, Carlos Sainz, finished third, one place ahead of Verstappen.

The triple world champion, who has now not won any of the previous seven races, ended the one-hour running 0.334 seconds slower than Leclerc.

Verstappen has also been summoned to the stewards for swearing in Thursday’s FIA press conference to preview this weekend’s event.

The Dutch driver was urged by the moderator to watch his language after he said his car was “f*****” in Azerbaijan.

Norris raced from 15th to fourth in Baku five days ago to finish ahead of Verstappen and keep his championship dream alive.

And the British driver enjoyed an encouraging start to his weekend, finishing nearly three tenths clear of Verstappen with McLaren and Ferrari holding the early edge.

Verstappen has never won F1’s first night race, and the Red Bull driver admitted here on Thursday that the bumpy and low-speed venue is unlikely to suit his unsettled machine.

Verstappen’s team-mate, Sergio Perez, who at one point complained that he could not stop his car, was way down the order in 14th, one second behind Leclerc.

Mercedes also struggled in the first running, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell 12th and 16th respectively.

Hamilton said he had “too much understeer”, and also barked on the radio, “you guys have to fix this, man”, as he bemoaned the traction metrics on his Silver Arrows.

Elsewhere, Yuki Tsunoda finished fifth for RB, with Piastri sixth and Daniel Ricciardo seventh.

Ricciardo, 35, could be competing in his final F1 race amid mounting speculation that he is set to be replaced by New Zealand RB reserve driver Liam Lawson.

The concluding session of the day takes place at 21:00 local time (2pm BST).