Why Kimi Antonelli and George Russell are "test pilots" for Mercedes at Singapore GP

George Russell led the pack in the first Formula 1 practice session at the Singapore Grand Prix, setting the fastest lap of the event. However, Max Verstappen managed to beat him by half a second on medium tyres. The session took place under unrepresentative conditions – a scorching track temperature of 53 degrees Celsius – making it difficult to fully gauge the performance for upcoming qualifying and the night race.

All drivers, except for the Cadillacs, started the session on hard tyres and sprinted to set their best times. Kimi Antonelli topped the medium-tyre running with a time of 1 minute and 33.830 seconds, leaving Ferrari's Charles Leclerc just 0.034 seconds and Mercedes' George Russell 0.056 seconds behind. Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, and Lewis Hamilton followed within 0.6 seconds of the benchmark.

Only five drivers ran the softer compound, including Russell, who dominated on soft tyres with a time of 1 minute and 32.274 seconds – two-tenths quicker than Leclerc and Norris, and half a second faster than Hamilton and Piastri. Verstappen was sixth with a 1 minute and 33.006-second lap on medium tyres. After the session, Hulkenberg, driving for Audi, had to be pulled into the pit lane due to gearbox issues, indicating a potential mechanical failure.