Leclerc avoids lizards to lead Ferrari one-two in opening practice

Charles Leclerc led team mate Carlos Sainz Jnr in an opening practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix which was disrupted three times by yellow flags caused by a lizard on the track.

The Ferrari pair were just ahead of Max Verstappen in the opening hour of running for the weekend. Lando Norris took fourth place, ahead of the two Mercedes, in his revised McLaren.

The sun was already beginning to set as cars headed out on track around the revised Marina Bay circuit for the first time. Most drivers opted for hard tyres but Norris took to the track in his upgraded McLaren on medium tyres, setting the early pace with a 1’35.782 – almost eight seconds faster than the quickest time from the opening practice session from 2022.

Naturally the bumpy streets were lacking in natural grip at the start of the weekend and this was evident when both Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez ran wide at the exit of the first corner and missed the apex of turn two. Norris was displaced at the top of the times by Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes and the two Ferraris of Carlos Sainz Jnr and Charles Leclerc, all three on the hard tyres, before Norris’s next push lap saw purple times in all three sectors to move back into first with a 1’34.776.

Almost the entire field returned to the pit lane to adjust their set ups and prepare for later runs. After the half hour mark, drivers began to peel out back onto the track on soft tyres, including Norris, Leclerc, Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. However, all drivers were forced to back out of their push laps when the yellow flags flew at turn eight due to a lizard appearing on the track.

Eventually the creature escaped the confines of the circuit and the track was clear. Leclerc lowered the best time of the session to a 1’33.350 on the softest compound, with team mate Sainz going almost eight hundredths of a second slower in second place.

The yellow flags appeared intermittently over the final 20 minutes of the session as marshals continued to warn drivers of lizards on the circuit but, sadly, the animal was struck by Fernando Alonso in the closing minute of the session. The track invader may have dissuaded teams from attempting many push laps in the later part of the session as by the time the chequered flag waved at the end of the hour, Leclerc’s best time remained fastest of all with Sainz completing a Ferrari one-two.

Verstappen was just over a tenth behind Leclerc in third, half a tenth ahead of Norris, with the two Mercedes of Hamilton and George Russell fifth and sixth. Sergio Perez was seventh ahead of Alonso in the Aston Martin with Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon completing the top ten drivers.

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2023 Singapore Grand Prix first practice result

Position	Number	Driver	Team	Model	Time	Gap	Laps
1	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	SF-23	1’33.350		25
2	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	SF-23	1’33.428	0.078	24
3	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB19	1’33.476	0.126	22
4	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL60	1’33.522	0.172	24
5	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	W14	1’33.540	0.190	21
6	63	George Russell	Mercedes	W14	1’33.695	0.345	25
7	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB19	1’33.725	0.375	22
8	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR23	1’33.974	0.624	28
9	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT	AT04	1’34.042	0.692	25
10	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	A523	1’34.066	0.716	24
11	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR23	1’34.568	1.218	25
12	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	A523	1’34.639	1.289	23
13	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	FW45	1’34.657	1.307	19
14	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	C43	1’34.802	1.452	25
15	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	VF-23	1’34.887	1.537	23
16	40	Liam Lawson	AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT	AT04	1’34.894	1.544	27
17	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas-Ferrari	VF-23	1’34.985	1.635	22
18	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	C43	1’35.456	2.106	25
19	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL60	1’35.474	2.124	22
20	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams-Mercedes	FW45	1’35.778	2.428	24

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2023 Singapore Grand Prix

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