Singapore Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc leads lizard-affected FP1

Leclerc ended the one-hour running at the Marina Bay circuit just 0.078 seconds clear of team-mate Carlos Sainz, with championship leader Max Verstappen third.

Lando Norris finished fourth for McLaren, 0.172 sec back, while Lewis Hamilton and George Russell took fifth and sixth respectively for Mercedes.

But the session was disturbed on several occasions when a lizard walked across the three-mile street venue.

Verstappen was the first to report the reptile at Turn 9 midway through the running.

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"There is a lizard on track again," said the Red Bull driver, who had a similar encounter here back in 2016. "It is a smaller one this time."

Verstappen's race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase replied: "Maybe Godzilla has had a kid."

There was a second interruption, and then a third, as yellow flags were deployed.

"Another lizard, but a different one this time," said Russell.

Verstappen, who is chasing an 11th straight victory on his waltz to a third world championship, warned on Thursday that Red Bull could be vulnerable at this unique street venue.

And the chasing pack, led by Ferrari, will be encouraged that Red Bull did not have it all their own way in the opening running of the weekend.

Sergio Perez, who won here last year, finished seventh, ahead of Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso.

The second running gets underway at 2100 local time.

FP1 results:

1 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari 1m33.350s
2 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari 1m33.428s
3 Max Verstappen NED Oracle Red Bull Racing 1m33.476s
4 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1m33.522s
5 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas 1m33.540s
6 George Russell GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas 1m33.695s
7 Sergio Perez MEX Oracle Bull Racing 1m33.725s
8 Fernando Alonso ESP Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant 1m33.974s
9 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri 1m34.042a
10 Esteban Ocon FRA BWT Alpine F1 Team 1m34.066s
11 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant 1m34.568s
12 Pierre Gasly FRA BWT Alpine F1 Team 1m34.639s
13 Alex Albon THA Williams Racing 1m34.657s
14 Valtteri Bottas FIN Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake 1m34.802s
15 Kevin Magnussen DEN MoneyGram Haas F1 Team 1m34.887s
16 Liam Lawson NZL Scuderia AlphaTauri 1m34.894s
17 Nico Hulkenberg GER MoneyGram Haas F1 Team 1m34.887s
18 Zhou Guanyu CHN Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake 1m35.456s
19 Oscar Piastri AUS McLaren F1 Team 1m35.474s
20 Logan Sargeant USA Williams Racing 1m35.778s

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