First part of free practice
Cloudy. Dry. Air +29С, track +38…36С
On Friday afternoon, the state of the track in Singapore traditionally left much to be desired – the asphalt was dirty, the cars slid – the riders carefully added speed so as not to risk an accident.
Leclerc went to the track and immediately returned to the pits due to problems with the brakes. The mechanics blocked her from the TV cameras with their backs, and Charles ended up losing the first twenty minutes.
There were no incidents. Russell made a mistake on braking and poked into the barrier in the 11th turn with no consequences for the car.
At the 39th minute, red flags appeared – Stroll crashed the car, hitting the barrier at the exit of the fifth turn. It was not possible to return to the pits, at the command of the engineer he stopped the car, it had to be evacuated.
Verstappen made a mistake on braking and drove into the safety zone at the 16th turn, but continued to move.
For the first time of the season, Lewis Hamilton took the lead with a lap time of 1:43.033 – 84 thousandths ahead of Verstappen.
First part of free practice
| Pilot | Team | Time | Difference | Circles |
| 1. L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:43.033 | – | 19 |
| 2. M. Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:43.117 | 0.084 | 20 |
| 3. Sh. Leclair | Ferrari | 1:43.435 | 0.402 | 17 |
| 4. C.Perez | Red Bull | 1:43.839 | 0.806 | 15 |
| 5. D. Russell | Mercedes | 1:44.066 | 1.033 | 21 |
| 6. K. Sainz | Ferrari | 1:44.138 | 1.105 | 24 |
| 7. E. Okon | Alpine | 1:44.736 | 1.703 | 23 |
| 8. L. Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:45.221 | 2.188 | 12 |
| 9. P. Gasli | AlphaTauri | 1:45.258 | 2.225 | 23 |
| 10. F. Alonso | Alpine | 1:45.336 | 2.303 | 11 |
| 11. S. Vettel | Aston Martin | 1:45.354 | 2.321 | 22 |
| 12. D. Riccardo | McLaren | 1:45.724 | 2.691 | 21 |
| 13. V. Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 1:45.725 | 2.692 | 24 |
| 14. K. Magnussen | Haas | 1:46.028 | 2.995 | 21 |
| 15. Y. Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 1:46.081 | 3.048 | 25 |
| 16. A. Albon | Williams | 1:46.119 | 3.086 | 20 |
| 17. G. Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 1:46.408 | 3.375 | 24 |
| 18. M. Schumacher | Haas | 1:46.601 | 3.568 | 23 |
| 19. L. Norris | McLaren | 1:46.680 | 3.647 | 22 |
| 20. N. Latifi | Williams | 1:47.092 | 4.059 | 17 |