Skip to main content

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe
Live text
Formula 1 Singapore GP

F1 Singapore GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2

Friday's action from the 15th round of the 2023 Formula 1 season

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18

Formula 1 heads away from Europe for an Asian double-header which starts at the Singapore GP, fresh from Max Verstappen’s historic 10th consecutive F1 win last time out in Italy.

But Singapore’s Marina Bay Street circuit remains one of the few venues the Dutch driver is yet to taste victory at, and it hosted arguably his worst performance of the season last year, when he went off and could only recover to seventh.

Verstappen currently leads the standings by a huge 145 points over Sergio Perez, making his charge to a third consecutive world crown a relative formality with eight races to go.

Singapore GP first practice starts at 10:30am BST followed by second practice at 2:00pm BST.

Live Text

Sort by
Stopwatch
Norris and his updated McLaren returns to the top with a 1m34.776s on the medium tyres, and then Perez, on hards, slots into second place half a second back.
Stopwatch
Hamilton, on hards, goes quickest with a 1m35.571s - just 0.022s quicker than Sainz - as the lap times come tumbling down as the drivers and teams bed in with the track.
Stopwatch
Perez gets it wrong diving into Turn 1 so takes to the run-off just as Alonso did earlier. Meanwhile, Leclerc has gone top with a 1m35.683s.
The TV director cuts to Ricciardo watching from the pitwall for the first time this weekend. He's still recovering from a broken hand suffered in the Netherlands but he is at the track to be in the engineering meetings, with Lawson still standing in. That sight is very first half of 2023.
Quote
Meanwhile Verstappen's team-mate Perez isn't having a good time of it either: "I struggle to see the apexes, so I may need to come up a bit with the seat."
Quote
"Quite aggressive downshifts and I struggle in the [corners] mid to exit all the time. A lot of oversteer in every corner, basically," is Verstappen's summary of his opening run.
McLaren is also running a special livery for Singapore and Japan, a stealth mode, so watch out for Norris and Piastri sneaking up the order this weekend.
The pair of Williams drivers have joined the on-track fun so we get a first look at that striking Gulf livery that the team will use in Singapore and Japan. We've got to say, it looks lovely. Well done to all the fans who voted for that.
Stopwatch
Norris leads the early times with a 1m37.895s, while Alonso completes his first timed effort with a slide into Turn 1 which forces him to take to the run-off. But no harm done as he continues on.
In fact, all the drivers are now out early doors except for the Williams pair. Must've been a big breakfast/lunch.
Green flag
Off we go! Both Aston Martins, Alfa Romeos, AlphaTauri's Lawson and Alpine's Ocon are the early takers.
Now to the track action. It is sunny, dry, hot and largely not comparable to the track conditions expected for qualifying and the race this weekend, which runs at night under the floodlights. So expect this session to be just a taste test.
While on the driver market front, Zhou has been retained alongside Bottas for an unchanged Alfa Romeo driver line-up for 2024.
Photo
Finally at Red Bull, the reigning champions have delivered a tweaked floor to its already mighty RB19.
Red Bull Racing RB19 floor detail

Red Bull Racing RB19 floor detail

Photo by: Jon Noble

Photo
While at McLaren, Norris is the only driver with all the new bits and bobs on his MCL60, as Piastri has to wait until next week's Japanese GP for the full upgrade package.
McLaren MCL60 technical detail

McLaren MCL60 technical detail

Photo by: Jon Noble

Photo
The majority of team bosses might be saying they are already focusing on 2024, but that hasn't stopped the car upgrades flooding in at Singapore. First up it is a trip to the back of the grid, as the AlphaTauri AT04 gets a raft of new parts.
AlphaTauri AT04 technical detail

AlphaTauri AT04 technical detail

Photo by: Jake Boxall-Legge

There's been a whole week without F1, how did you all cope? Whether it was back to school and work or a little city break, normality returns once again. This is the first of eight flyaway F1 rounds to complete the 2023 season.
Good morning - or good evening depending on where you are in the world - we are 15 minutes away from the start of opening practice for the Singapore GP. How exciting.

By: Autosport Staff

Published: