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F1 Singapore

This weekend features the race starting at 13:00 BST on race day.

Live updates streamed on radio channels and BBC Sport.

Opening Round Summary

Aston Martin's two-time champion was fastest in front of Monegasque driver and Red Bull's Max Verstappen in first practice at the street circuit event.

McLaren's title rivals Australian rookie and British talent concluded the session in fifth and sixth.

The young Australian was over two tenths faster than his teammate.

Alonso was a tenth and a half leading of the Ferrari driver and over a quarter of a second faster than the Red Bull star.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton was just outside the top three.

Car Performance

Unlikely that Aston Martin will be contenders for P1.

However, the team are hopeful of a improved performance on a tight circuit that is better matched to their vehicle, which performs better when high levels of downforce are needed.

Double world title winner Fernando is also famous as a Marina Bay expert, and usually excels on the night race venue.

But he was almost certainly using reduced weight or a higher engine mode than his rivals, or both, to set such a quick time.

Practice Conditions

His team-mate Canadian racer was almost two seconds slower in the lower order.

Stroll had difficulties with his driving position during the initial runs and was also testing test items.

Opening practice in Marina Bay is not indicative of race pace for qualifying and race as it is conducted in afternoon sun in late afternoon, while grid-deciding session and the main event are run at night.

Points Situation

Piastri has an advantage over his teammate by a solid margin with remaining rounds left heading into the event in Singapore.

The Woking-based team are in position to clinch the team title on Sunday.

Sole scenario they can miss out in Singapore is if Mercedes outscore them by 31 points or Ferrari do so by a similar margin.

Red Bull Update

The energy drink brand's team are hopeful of a positive weekend after Max's wins in the previous rounds ahead of this weekend.

They were relieved when precipitation falling before the session cleared by the time the machines went out on a circuit that had not been wet.

Team consultant Helmut Marko said prior to running that they needed a uninterrupted running to get underway on understanding their chassis settings for the weekend.