🔗 Share this article Aston Martin's Alonso Sets Pace Opening Practice at Singapore Singapore Grand Prix Race weekend will see the race kicking off at 1pm BST on race day. Real-time coverage available on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and mobile app. FP1 Results Highlights Aston Martin's two-time champion topped the times in front of Scuderia star and reigning champion in FP1 at the Marina Bay race. McLaren's championship contenders Australian rookie and Lando Norris finished the session in fifth and sixth. Piastri was over two tenths quicker than his teammate. The experienced Spaniard was a tenth and a half leading of the Ferrari driver and a clear gap faster than Verstappen. The Italian squad's seven-time champion was fourth fastest. Car Performance It is not expected that Aston Martin will be front-runners for P1. Nonetheless, the outfit are hopeful of a strong showing on a tight circuit that is more suited to their vehicle, which performs better when plenty of aerodynamic grip are required. Two-time champion Alonso is also known as a street circuit master, and typically performs well on the night race venue. Yet he was almost certainly operating with reduced weight or a more aggressive setting than his rivals, or each, to set such a quick time. Session Details His team-mate Lance Stroll was 1.918secs slower in 18th place. The Canadian had issues with his cockpit at the start and was also evaluating test items. FP1 in Marina Bay is not representative of later performance later in the weekend as it is conducted in afternoon sun in the daytime, while grid-deciding session and the race are staged at night. Title Battle The McLaren driver leads Norris by a quarter-century with remaining rounds left entering the weekend in the Lion City. McLaren are poised to clinch the constructors' championship on Sunday. The only way they can miss out in this race is if the Silver Arrows beat them by thirty-one or Ferrari achieve that by thirty-five. Rival Teams The energy drink brand's team are positive of a good performance after recent successes in Monza and Baku preceding this event. It was a relief when light rain coming down before the session stopped by the point the cars took to the track on a surface that had stayed clear. Motorsport adviser Red Bull's advisor said before the session that they needed a uninterrupted running to make a comprehensive start on fine-tuning their set-up for the Grand Prix.