Red Bull sets early Singapore pace

F1 Grand Prix, GP Singapore, Marina Bay Street Circuit

Max Verstappen was the fastest driver in the first practice session at Singapore, topping his Red Bull Racing team mate Daniel Ricciardo by a few hundredths of a second. Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel came closest to the duo, almost half a second down on the pace-setting Dutchman.

Even though Mercedes were in an unusual 4th and 5th place, neither driver used Pirelli’s quickest ultrasoft tyre compound to set their best time. Hence, their true pace remains hidden, and it is expected that even if the silver cars would prove less on form, they would be struggling less than they were in 2015.

Nico Rosberg did crash at the end of the session, completely failing to turn into a 90° left hander and locking up the right front wheel. He hit the armco barrier head on, but other than some front wing and nose cone damage, the car looked ok.

Kimi Raikkonen was 6th fastest, ahead of the Toro Rosso duo, who on their behalf believe this event might be their last chance of points this season, given top end power is of less importance than on most other tracks on the F1 calendar.

Felipe Massa and Esteban Gutierrez completed the top 10, with Fernando Alonso just out of that, having rubbed a wall halfway through the 90-minute session.