Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Singapore

Image source, Getty Images

Mercedes driver George Russell led Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in practice at the Singapore Grand Prix.

A late lap from Leclerc, who was 0.198 seconds off Russell's pace, split up what had been an all-British top three.

McLaren's Lando Norris was third fastest, 0.273secs behind Russell, and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton fourth, 0.499secs off the pace.

The top five, concluded by McLaren's Oscar Piastri, were all on the soft-compound tyres, while Red Bull's Max Verstappen was the fastest driver using medium tyres in sixth place.

Read the full report here

George Russell's grid penalty doesn't kick in until Sunday's main race, so if he takes pole position for the Saturday's sprint dash this afternoon, he can keep it.

The top five times in first practice were banked on the soft tyre, while the rest of the top 10 put down their markers on the medium compound, which will be used for SQ1 and SQ2.

Will we see a scrap for sprint pole in the very dusty conditions in Singapore? The heat is stifling and the air quality around Marina Bay could make things even more challenging for drivers this weekend.

Come back and join us for sprint qualifying build-up from 13:15 BST.

See you shortly!

Harry Benjamin, former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer and F1 correspondent Andrew Benson look ahead to the Singapore Grand Prix. The team hear from Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. Plus, when will Kimi Antonelli wrap up the drivers’ title?

And Harry puts Andrew and Jolyon through their paces with an F1 equivalent of Mastermind.

You can have a listen to the Chequered Flag podcast during the break by clicking the play icon above or heading over to BBC Sounds here

11. Oliver Bearman (Haas)

12. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)

13. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

14. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

15. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

16. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)

17. Alex Albon (Williams)

18. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)

19. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

20. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

21. Sergio Perez (Cadillac)

22. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

I think we have got a bit of a scrap for sprint quali: Ferraris looking pretty decent and have McLaren found their form once again?

1. George Russell (Mercedes) - 1:32.274

2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.198

3. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.273

4. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.499

5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.564

6. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.732

7. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +1.251

8. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +1. 449

9. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1.764

10. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +1.881

Postpublished at 10:31 BST

10:31 BST

Kimi Antonelli has gone off the track at Turn 16 and needs to a few goes to get himself out of the run-off area. The Mercedes driver is seventh on the timesheets and is running the medium tyre compared to George Russell's soft.

"Oh my god man!" was Antonelli's message to his pit wall when he found himself in a spot of bother.

The top four times have all been done on the soft compound, with George Russell now taking over from Lewis Hamilton by more than half a second. Russell's new quickest time is a 1:32.274.

Hamilton drops a place to third now, as world champion Lando Norris goes within 0.273 seconds of Russell's Mercedes.

Over at Williams, Carlos Sainz, down in 17th and running the medium compound, tells his pit wall "the pulling is getting really bad, I don't know why?"

Charles Leclerc has reset for another go on his soft-tyre run. His next attempt places his third on the timesheets behnd leader George Russell and the McLaren of Oscar Piastri.

But here comes Lewis Hamilton on the same C5 compound. The seven-time world champion has claimed sprint pole for Ferrari for before, and he's able to beat George Russell's time in this first practice session by 0.043 seconds to go top.

Piastri improves on his second flyer to sit behind Hamilton, just 0.017 seconds off the seven-time world champion's pace.

Fernando Alonso goes eighth with his firt flying lap on the medium tyre, which driver have to use in SQ1 and SQ2 in sprint qualifying.

George Russell crosses the line and he jumps above team-mate Kimi Antonelli, who opts for the yellow medium, by nearly a second with a time of 1:32.864.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri is just behind to Russell, 0.034 seconds off the pace on the same time, while Charles Leclerc had to back out of his flying lap after being impeded.

Image source, PA Media

The medium tyres are starting to make an appearance now, including Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who was in the points in eighth place at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia a week ago.

George Russell, Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri, meanwhile, fancy some running on the C5 compound, as the clock down to 11 minutes left of this sole practice session.

Nico Hulkenberg was reporting gearbox issues with his Audi, and the TV replay certainly didn't sound too healthy. The German, who finished just outside the points in 11th place last weekend, parked up just outside the pit lane, so the VSC was only a short one.

There was just a brief virtual safety car deployed on the timing screen but as the adverts have appeared on the telly, I have no idea what it's for.

Ah, it might be for the Audi of Nico Hulkenberg, whose car has come to a stop on track and now needs the assistance of the marshals at Marina Bay.

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

It's probably an unpopular opinion but from a neutral perspective, I like a sprint weekend. But if I was a driver in Formula 1, probably not so much. It's a bit manic and there's more to go wrong. There is less time to develop the car.

The track is very dusty in Singapore, and world champion Lando Norris needs the aid of the run-off area after running wide in his McLaren.

Over at Aston Martin, Lance Stroll's team radio is working. "Man it's the brakes, they are not working! It's like, what's going on at Turn One?!" says the Canadian to his pit wall.

One man who isn't twitching is Charles Leclerc, who pops his Ferrari P2 on the timesheets with his latest flying lap on the hard tyre. The Monegasque driver is 0.034 seconds off the pace of leader Kimi Antonelli.

1. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) - 1:33.830

2. George Russell (Mercedes) +0.056

3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.139

4. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +0.206

5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.318

Image source, Getty Images

Max Verstappen praised Red Bull's upgrade after his victory last weekend, which was also his fourth consecutive podium finish. After the team's sluggish start to the season, the four-time world champion said on Thursday he wants to see if he can carry the Malaysia momentum through and potentially win again.

"We just need to stay two feet on the ground and keep working because I'm sure it's not always going to be like this now untl the end of the season," he added.

Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies is speaking to Sky Sports on the pit wall and says Verstappen is having a bit of radio trouble at the moment, so the team are focused on getting that fixed before sprint qualifying later on. The Dutchman has arrived back in the garage, race helmet off, as his crew get to work.

With George Russell pulling off to the side of the track and retiring from the race last weekend at Sepang, Kimi Antonelli's title lead was able to increase his title advantage to 84 points with only six (as it stands) grands prix remaining.

The Italian could be crowned champion with races to spare if things go his way this weekend and in the next triple-header coming up, and now he puts his car 0.056 seconds clear of his team-mate with a new fastest time of 1:33.830 on the hard tyre.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli might have aborted his flying lap, so the Italian stays in fourth for now. Mercedes team-mate George Russell has it all to do this weekend with that hefty back-of-the-grid penalty, but the Briton has just gone quickest with a time of 1:33.886 on the hard compound. His marker is 0.083 seconds better than Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who has headed back to the garage.