Live: F1 Singapore GP updates - FP1

With that, it is time for a breather. FP2 starts at 2pm BST/9pm local time, so until then, go well!

So, Ferrari - with its new front wing - is fast straight out of the box, along with McLaren's Norris. Only the top three made it into the 1m31s, with Verstappen needing to find a tenth to join that party. But, as is always said in Singapore, FP1 often counts for little compared to the night-time sessions that really matter.

The chequered flag is out so that is it for FP1, as Leclerc takes the headlines from Norris, Sainz and Verstappen.

Meanwhile Perez says he "cannot stop the car with the front right" as he locks up under braking. Snatchy brakey, catchy monkey.

"I'm trying to reduce the traction metrics. You guys have got to fix this, man, I'm being as soft as I can," Hamilton reports over team radio. To translate that, he is trying to be gentle on the throttle to avoid wheelspin on corner exits, as that chews through the tyres. It was an issue Hamilton struggled with in Baku before his post-qualifying set-up changes.

All the drivers have switched to high-fuel running for the final part of this session as nobody is troubling the best lap times. That should see Leclerc remain top in FP1, just as he did 12 months ago in Singapore.

Piastri has given a big, sloppy kiss to the wall on the exit of Turn 10 with his right-rear wheel, but has got away with it despite some paint damage.

The Norris sandwich (or panino in this context, perhaps) is re-established as Ferrari's Leclerc goes top with a 1m31.763s from the Brit, with Sainz in third.

"Just to check, Fernando, you pushed the pit button. Is that on purpose?" Alonso's engineer asks.

"No, to avoid a crash with this car I pushed the buttons, all the ones I have," is the Spanish driver's reply. That's often my tactic on the F1 video game, but it doesn't often work.

Alonso produces a David Raya-like save (if you haven't seen his double save vs Atalanta last night, I advise you do) to avoid his Aston Martin taking a one-way trip into the wall having briefly lost control of his car over a kerb.

After Leclerc rated his last push lap as "s***" - risking the wrath of the FIA president there - his second effort is much better as he goes second quickest and just 0.037s off Norris.

Sainz flirts with the kerbs around the final two corners but keeps his Ferrari pinned to go second fastest, having seen Norris step up the pace with a 1m31.839s.

Elsewhere, Bottas is blocked for the second time in this session, this time by Perez coming out of the pits. The pit exit lane merges with the racing line at Turn 3, so that is quite a familiar scene.

Tsunoda joins the party to go second fastest, just 0.098s off Norris, despite struggling with understeer through the high-speed corners.

On that soft tyre run Norris kicked up some dust as he tested the boundaries through Turn 1. That brought out a gasp from the grandstands.

The soft tyre replies sees Verstappen go second, 0.216s off Norris, and Hamilton to third, 0.514s off his fellow Brit.

Norris leads the switch to the soft tyres, followed by Verstappen and Hamilton, so the McLaren driver instantly returns to the top of the times with a 1m32.165s despite a minor kerb ride that lost him time.

I'm stood down at Turn 1 where the support that is here is very much in favour of the Ferraris, while there is also a group of Australians very much backing Daniel Ricciardo for what I’m sure they hope won’t be the last time.

Leclerc puts in a new fastest lap of 1m32.702s to make it a Ferrari sandwich with a McLaren filling at the top of the times.

Norris is still chipping away at the top of the of the times, posting a 1m33.199s, which gives him a quarter of a second advantage over nearest challenger Sainz.

Perez locks up going into Turn 16 and has to take to the run-off area, and then rather baulks Piastri as he rejoins. That one might be looked at by the stewards, but probably nothing more than a slap on the wrists.

And there goes Piastri, taking to the track for the first time in FP1, having missed the opening 12 minutes. Not bad going considering McLaren had initially been worried he might miss the majority of the session. Now the other Australian on the grid is stuck in the pits, as RB has a bit of trouble taking off the aero rake from the rear of Ricciardo's car. 

The lap times are being chipped away at, as Norris displaces Verstappen at the top with a 1m33.903s on medium tyres. McLaren team-mate Piastri is in his cockpit eager to join the action as his mechanics continue to work on the car from its earlier practice pitstop issue.

The track is very dirty and dusty, to no great surprise given it effectively hasn't been used as a racetrack for 12 months, and that is leading to lots of drivers sliding on corner exits. It isn't quite Piastri drifting over kerbs in Baku, but it still looks stylish.

There are no FP1-specials for this weekend, but we do have Magnussen returning at Haas following his penalty points 'red card' that forced him to sit out the Azerbaijan GP. Bearman, who stood in for the Dane in Baku, is in the back of the Ferrari garage keeping a close eye on the session.

Hamilton provides the early leading lap time with a 1m36.128s set on the hard tyres, but no need to read too closely into these times so far given the track conditions are, literally, night and day compared to the sessions that really count later this weekend.

Gasly hasn't quite measured his garage exit angle, as he has to be pushed back to avoid running his Alpine into the pitlane wall. That holds up Verstappen and Alonso behind him but no harm done. Just both Williams and Piastri are missing from the early running.

So, off we go into FP1, Piastri-less. The green light illuminates the end of the pitlane and Ricciardo leads out the early takers - for what could be the Australian's final RB outing of the season as speculation grows he'll be replaced by Lawson from the US GP onwards.

FP1 hasn't even started yet and McLaren has hit trouble with Piastri's car.

Here's the latest from the team: "During this morning’s pitstop practice we encountered an issue on the rear-left corner of Oscar’s car, which we are currently replacing. This isn’t an issue we’ve seen before, but we want to assess the issue fully to ensure we have no further issues this weekend. We hope to get Oscar out before the end of FP1."

While on a totally different topic, the FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has caused a stir by asking F1 and the drivers to cut down on foul language over team radio messages. Lando Norris and Max Verstappen led the calls against it, while Lewis Hamilton questioned the "racial element" of the FIA president's words after he said: "We have to differentiate between our sport – motorsport – and rap music. We're not rappers, you know."

Following Piastri's Azerbaijan GP win that led McLaren to the top of the F1 constructors' standings for the first time in 10 years, and toppling the dominant Red Bull in the process, all eyes have been focused on what the Woking-based squad is up to with its 'mini-DRS' rear wing trick. It has caused concern at rival teams while the FIA is considering action over it. Here's the latest.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Andrew Ferraro

Just five days on from the chequered flag being waved in Baku, the F1 paddock has landed in Singapore ready for its now traditional street night race. FP1 starts in 10 minutes, so just enough time to wrap up the major talking points coming into the weekend.

Hello one and all! How are we? Ready for some sizzling Singapore GP action? Coming right up.