Aston Martin's Alonso Sets Pace Opening Practice at Singapore
Marina Bay Street Circuit
3-5 October includes the grand prix starting at 13:00 BST on Sunday.
Real-time updates streamed on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and mobile app.
Practice Session Overview
The team's two-time champion topped the times beating Monegasque driver and reigning champion during first practice for the street circuit event.
McLaren's drivers Oscar Piastri and British talent concluded the practice in P5 and P6.
The young Australian was 0.217 seconds faster than his teammate.
The experienced Spaniard was a slim margin leading of the Ferrari driver and a clear gap quicker than the Red Bull star.
The Italian squad's British icon was P4.
Team Strategies
It is not expected that the Silverstone-based team will be front-runners for pole position.
However, the squad are optimistic of a strong showing on a low-speed track that is ideally suited to their car, which performs better when plenty of downforce are needed.
Veteran racer Alonso is also known as a street circuit master, and usually excels on the night race venue.
But he was almost certainly using less fuel or a higher engine mode than his rivals, or each, to achieve that pace.
Practice Conditions
His team-mate Lance Stroll was 1.918secs behind in 18th place.
He had issues with his cockpit early in the session and was also running new components.
Opening practice in Singapore is not reflective of conditions under lights as it is run in daylight in the daytime, while grid-deciding session and the race are staged after dark.
Championship Standings
The McLaren driver is ahead of Norris by 25 points with remaining rounds ahead entering the event in the Lion City.
The Woking-based team are poised to wrap up the constructors' championship on Sunday.
The only way they can fail to secure it in this race is if Mercedes beat them by 31 points or the Scuderia do so by 35.
Competitor Outlook
Red Bull are optimistic of a strong result after recent successes in Monza and Baku ahead of this weekend.
It was a relief when light rain falling ahead of FP1 abated by the moment the cars went out on a surface that had stayed clear.
Motorsport adviser Red Bull's advisor stated before the session that they wanted a dry hour to make a comprehensive start on understanding their chassis settings for the weekend.
