Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in opening practice for the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc finishing second and third.

The sparkling Marina Bay Street Circuit is back on the Formula One calendar after a two-season absence, with Max Verstappen is about to lock His second drivers’ championship – but he needs results for Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez to swing his way.

Read more: ‘If you survive in Singapore, you’re fit for anything else in Formula 1’ – drivers gear up for toughest race on the calendar

The session was red flagged with 20 minutes remaining for Lance Stroll (P8) hitting the barriers with the left side of his Aston Martin at Turn 5, before stopping and jumping into the Turn 7.

With five minutes remaining, Lewis Hamilton installed the softball to shoot to the top with a time of 1 m 43.033 seconds, beating Verstappen’s benchmark by 0.084 seconds. The Red Bull driver – who passed level 16 late in the session – set the media’s early pace. Leclerc completed the top three, 0.402 seconds behind Hamilton’s time.

Sergio Perez finished fourth in the other Red Bull, 0.806sec off the lead, while George Russell rounded out the top five for Mercedes – leaving Carlos Sainz in sixth as he struggled with car balance.

Esteban Ocon finished seventh on Alpine with Alpine running on new floors in Singapore, with Stroll missing eighth on the media after he missed the opportunity to put a lap on the soft tires after crashing in Turn 5.

Pierre Gasly earned a P9 for AlphaTauri to leave Fernando Alonso to round out the top ten in the other Alps. The Spaniard was held in the garage for the last 25 minutes with an oil leak in the gearbox.

Sebastian Vettel finished 11th with Aston Martin, ahead of McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas in P13 for Alfa Romeo.

Kevin Magnussen finished 14th for Haas ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in 15th for AlphaTauri.

Alex Albon, who missed the Italian Grand Prix with appendicitis and suffered complications from the resulting surgery, is back to finish 16th in FP1 for Williams. Zhou Guanyu of Alfa Romeo used medium vehicles to finish three-tenths of the Thai driver.

Mick Schumacher finished 18th for Haas while Lando Norris, with a bit of paint floating on the right side of his car as McLaren brought new side slates and floor updates to Singapore, finished 19th – with Nicholas Latifi rounding out the standings, 20 drivers split by 4.059 seconds.

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