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Singapore Grand Prix

3-5 October features the main event beginning at 13:00 BST on Sunday.

Live coverage provided on digital platforms and BBC Sport.

Opening Round Overview

Aston Martin's two-time champion topped the times beating Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Dutch ace during first practice for the street circuit event.

The British team's championship contenders Australian rookie and Lando Norris concluded the session in fifth and sixth.

The young Australian was over two tenths quicker than the Briton.

The experienced Spaniard was a slim margin in front of Leclerc and over a quarter of a second quicker than Verstappen.

The Italian squad's Lewis Hamilton was P4.

Team Strategies

It is not expected that Aston Martin will be contenders for the top spot.

That said, the outfit are hopeful of a improved performance on a technical venue that is better matched to their car, which runs more competitively when significant amounts of downforce are called for.

Double world title winner Fernando is also famous as a Singapore specialist, and often shines on the night race venue.

Yet he was almost certainly using reduced weight or a increased power than his competitors, or both, to set such a quick time.

Team Updates

His team-mate Lance Stroll was a significant margin behind in the lower order.

Stroll had difficulties with his seat early in the session and was also evaluating experimental parts.

FP1 in Singapore is not indicative of later performance later in the weekend as it is conducted in daylight in the daytime, while the shootout and the race are run at night.

Title Battle

Piastri has an advantage over Norris by 25 points with remaining rounds left entering the Grand Prix in the Lion City.

McLaren are set to clinch the team title on Sunday.

The only way they can fail to secure it in this race is if the Silver Arrows outscore them by 31 points or the Scuderia do so by thirty-five.

Red Bull Update

Red Bull are positive of a positive weekend after Max's wins in the previous rounds preceding this event.

It was a relief when light rain falling ahead of FP1 stopped by the point the vehicles emerged on a circuit that had stayed clear.

Motorsport adviser Helmut Marko stated before the session that they needed a clear session to get underway on optimizing their car configuration for the event.