Singapore – Free Practice 1: Red Bulls in Front, Hamilton Only 6th

The sun is shining for this first free practice session of the Singapore Grand Prix, which is therefore taking place during the day. With a non-permanent track that is rather dusty, the start of the session is not very popular with the drivers, who settle for doing one or two installation laps without necessarily setting a time on the results sheet, also aiming to preserve all the elements of their single-seaters.

Some nevertheless try to tease the stopwatch, like the two Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton who take the lead ahead of Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari. But the track is still tricky and surprises the Finn who spins out, without damage, at the same spot as Lance Stroll and his Williams a few minutes earlier.

This weekend, Pirelli brought its softest range of tires, which does not seem to favor the Mercedes, especially on a track they fear. That doesn’t stop Hamilton from leading the standings after half an hour of the session and the German team from setting the best times in the three sectors!

FASTEST SECTORS: A strong start to the weekend for @MercedesAMGF1 #SingaporeGP 🇸🇬 #F1 pic.twitter.com/ge84I49BfD

— Formula 1 (@F1) 14 septembre 2018

In the provisional Top 10, we find both Red Bulls lurking, the two Force Indias, the two Renaults, and a surprising Fernando Alonso in his McLaren in 9th position. Max Verstappen, despite being credited with an excellent 4th fastest time, complains of difficulty with his steering. Quite problematic on this type of circuit. However, the Austrian cars should be comfortable on this track, as demonstrated by Daniel Ricciardo snatching the best time from the Mercedes with a 1.41.814 on Soft tires.

Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen’s Haas cars, traditionally the fourth strongest team on the grid, are more behind this weekend on a track that does not suit them. The Frenchman is 13th, ahead of the Dane, only 15th.

.@KevinMagnussen clocks a 1:45.019 to climb to P15. #FP1 pic.twitter.com/MzEYwCOl69

— Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) 14 septembre 2018

The battle begins for the Ferrari drivers who are on Hyper-soft tires, targeting the best times exchanged between Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo. Kimi Räikkönen, who had been very discreet until then, posts an impressive 1:40.486, but Ricciardo immediately responds with the best time after an hour of the session at 1:39.711.

Carlos Sainz, as well as Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Räikkönen, all encountered difficulties on track, either missing their braking points or spinning off into the dust off the racing line.

Yellow flags fluttering as Kimi locks up at Turn 18 and runs off track #SingaporeGP 🇸🇬 #F1 pic.twitter.com/dF9S1CMiKa

— Formula 1 (@F1) 14 septembre 2018

At the bottom of the standings, the situation isn’t improving for Stoffel Vandoorne, completely adrift at more than 5 seconds off the best time. The Belgian completed only 10 laps before returning to his garage for his mechanics to completely change the setup of his McLaren.

At the other end of the standings, Max Verstappen takes second place, 0.2 seconds behind his teammate but ahead of Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari. This one-two at the top of the standings for this first session means that the Red Bulls will be contenders for the rest of the weekend.

At the end of the session, Charles Leclerc concludes his track learning with a contact against the wall. The Sauber must stop…

Contact mur pour Leclerc. #FP1 #SingaporeGP #F1 #AuRupteur pic.twitter.com/eBIOyCbs85

— Au Rupteur (@AuRupteur) 14 septembre 2018

The complete FP1 standings:

FP1 CLASSIFICATION: P5 for @HulkHülkenberg – a good start to his 150th GP weekend 👏 #SingaporeGP 🇸🇬 #F1 pic.twitter.com/EAxPucOIoD

— Formula 1 (@F1) 14 septembre 2018