F1 GP Singapore, Free Practice 1: Red Bull ahead of the Ferraris, and Ricciardo in the lead

Daniel Ricciardo is the fastest at the end of the first Free Practice session at Marina Bay Street Circuit di Singapore. The pilot Red Bull, at ease on a track that at times recalls the city track of Monte Carlo, where the Australian achieved one of his two victories of the season, he prevailed over his teammate and the two Ferrari. Hag he finished third, two tenths from the top, preceding the SF71-H of Kimi, and then the cars of Hulkenberg, Hamilton, Sainz, Bottas, Leclerc and Grosjean, following until the end of the top ten. Unlike colleagues, two Mercedes However, they did not use the softest compound, the hypersoft. In this first outing the drivers put themselves to the test on a still virgin track, awaiting FP2, which will take place in the evening and with the same weather conditions as qualifying and the race.

News – Late afternoon in Singapore when the first free practice session gets underway. Ericsson's Sauber is the first to try the track, which is very dirty and slippery, which will improve over the course of the 90 minutes of activity. The first times belong to Sirotkin and Stroll, then the two Ferraris take the lead, both on hypersoft compounds. With one tire at a disadvantage, the ultrasoft, Bottas sets the pace in 1:42.474. After the first thirty minutes from the start Hamilton took the lead in 1:42.072, on the same tire as his teammate. Followed by Ricciardo and Verstappen on the soft, Vettel, Sainz, Perez, Ocon, Kimi and Hulkenberg: all on the hypersoft, except Sainz with the purple compound and Hulkenberg with the yellow.

Bottas improves and drops to 1:42.170, while the German from Renault climbs to fifth. But an hour before the start it was Red Bull who prevailed: Ricciardo set a time of 1:41.814 on the soft tyre, while both Ferraris were in the pits waiting for a set up change. For this race, the Reds received aerodynamic updates to the rear wing, as well as changes to the bottom of the SF71-H. Mercedes also worked on the rear axle.

With the soft tire Bottas moved into second position and then took the lead thanks to a time of 1:41.669, to then pass the baton to Hamilton, who lapped in 1:41.232 with the opening compound. The two Ferraris leave the pits with the hypersofts and take turns climbing to the top: Vettel last in 1:39.997. But with just under thirty minutes to go, Ricciardo is once again dictating the rules, first with the hypersofts and a time of 1:39.711, followed by Vettel, Verstappen, Kimi and Hulkenberg, all "fitting" the softer compound. Only the Mercedes are fitted with the soft tires and will continue on the same tire also in the race pace simulation.

The session ends with Ricciardo leading ahead of his teammate Verstappen, 2 tenths behind, and the two Ferraris, where Vettel precedes Raikkonen.

F1 GP Singapore – Times, results and laps Free Practice 1