Verstappen tops 1st practice in Singapore

Red Bull's Max Verstappen topped the timesheets for Red Bull in first free practice for the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix, beating Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and world champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.

Verstappen posted 1 minute 40.259 seconds on the 5.063km Yas Marina street course, 0.167 faster than Vettel, with Hamilton 0.666 back.

Valtteri Bottas was fourth-quickest in the second Mercedes but left his mechanics with lots of work after crashing into the barriers late in the 90-minute session which had to be halted for several minutes.

Ferrari's two-time season winner Charles Leclerc meanwhile placed second-last in 19th, suffering from technical issues.

Hamilton leads the championship 63 points ahead of Bottas as he is firmly moving towards a sixth world title.

He has won four times in Singapore, including the past two races.