đ Share this article Alonso Tops First Session at Marina Bay Singapore Grand Prix This weekend will see the main event kicking off at 13:00 BST on Sunday. Real-time updates provided on digital platforms and mobile app. Practice Session Summary The team's Fernando Alonso set the pace ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and reigning champion in FP1 at the street circuit event. McLaren's championship contenders Oscar Piastri and British talent wrapped up the run in P5 and P6. Piastri was 0.217 seconds faster than his teammate. The experienced Spaniard was a slim margin leading of Leclerc and a clear gap quicker than Verstappen. The Italian squad's Lewis Hamilton was P4. Team Strategies Unlikely that Aston Martin will be contenders for P1. That said, the outfit are hopeful of a improved performance on a technical venue that is ideally suited to their chassis, which performs better when high levels of downforce are required. Two-time champion Fernando is also renowned as a Singapore specialist, and typically performs well on the night race venue. Yet he was almost certainly running a lighter load or a more aggressive setting than his rivals, or each, to post the fastest lap. Session Details His team-mate Canadian racer was almost two seconds off the pace in P18. The Canadian had difficulties with his driving position at the start and was also testing experimental parts. The first session in Marina Bay is not reflective of later performance for qualifying and race as it is run in daylight in late afternoon, while qualifying and the grand prix are run at night. Title Battle Piastri has an advantage over Norris by a solid margin with the final stretch left entering the event in the Lion City. McLaren are in position to secure the team title on Sunday. The only way they can miss out in Singapore is if Mercedes beat them by thirty-one or the Scuderia achieve that by a similar margin. Rival Teams The energy drink brand's team are hopeful of a strong result after Max's wins in Italy and Azerbaijan leading into this Grand Prix. They were relieved when drizzle coming down before the session stopped by the moment the vehicles went out on a circuit that had remained dry. Team consultant Red Bull's advisor commented before the session that they needed a uninterrupted running to begin properly on optimizing their set-up for the Grand Prix.