Mercedes' George Russell set the fastest time in the first and only free practice session before the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix. The Briton overtook Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and McLaren's Lando Norris, who completed the top 3.
Leclerc was the first to break the 1:39 mark, but was soon overtaken by Kimi Antonelli. The Italian driver clocked 1:33.830 on the hard tyres.
The drivers kept their qualifying simulations for the last ten minutes of the session. Russell was among the first to take to the track with this plan, and in the first sector he managed to beat his teammate's time by four tenths of a second. By the end of the lap, his lead was almost a second at 1:32.864.
In the final phase, the Briton shaved another six-tenths off his time and finished the session in the lead with a time of 1:32.274. Leclerc was second 0.198 seconds behind, while Norris was third 0.273 seconds behind.
Lewis Hamilton in Ferrari's second car and McLaren's Oscar Piastre finished fourth and fifth respectively. They were the last drivers to set their best times on the soft tyres.
Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli finished sixth and seventh. However, both did not use the soft tyres in this session, reserving them for the sprint qualifying.
Russell will face a serious challenge on Sunday as he is expected to start from the back of the grid due to a drivetrain change.