Fernando Alonso topped the timing sheets in the first free practice session at the Singapore Grand Prix, with his former McLaren team-mate Jenson Button spotting a crucial technical detail that may explain the Spaniard's surprising pace around the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
The Aston Martin driver delivered his strongest Friday performance of the season, following up his FP1 exploits by going fourth-quickest in the second hour of running.
Reflecting on the day's running, Alonso said: "I think both sessions in the top four, probably it's the best Friday so far. But sometimes on Friday we run with different programmes than the others, or different fuel.
"It's not the first time that happened, so the real test is tomorrow in qualifying," the 44-year-old cautioned nonetheless. "But we are a little bit more optimistic than the previous two races."
Button, providing commentary for Sky Sports F1, noticed something distinctive about Alonso's car setup that caught his experienced eye during FP1.
"It looks like he's got a different ratio steering rack. He's got a lot of steering angle in the car," observed the 2009 F1 drivers' champion.
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The steering rack advantage
In F1, teams can adjust the steering rack ratio to suit different circuit characteristics. A higher ratio means drivers must provide more steering input to achieve the same wheel angle, effectively requiring more arm movement but delivering greater precision and smoother control.
Button explained how this technical choice perfectly suits Singapore's unique demands: "You might do that around a place like this, because you don't want the minimum steering angles making a big difference to the balance, so everything's a little bit calmer."
The Marina Bay Street Circuit presents one of the most physically demanding challenges on the F1 calendar, with its tight corners, heavy braking zones and oppressive heat and humidity.
The higher steering ratio reduces the nervous, twitchy feeling that can plague drivers through Singapore's technical sections.
"He's crossed arms in a lot of corners, but it seems to be working for him," Button noted during the session.
Whilst remaining cautious about reading too much into Friday's performance, Alonso acknowledged the positive signs from his AMR25.
"It seems a little bit better than the previous grands prix," he said. "Let's try to fine-tune the set-up; it's still not in a happy place, especially on the front axle, still a little bit too much understeer.
"It's something to work on... But I think it's a good start, and let's see what we can do."
The two-time F1 drivers' champion revealed how quickly he found his rhythm around the challenging street circuit: "I think since the first lap in FP1 we were in a comfortable place, and we were able to find the limits quite quickly."
However, two red flags in FP2 prevented a complete picture of the competitive order from emerging in a heavily interrupted session.
"In FP2 obviously the red flags didn't help to see the full picture, so I don't know the top teams if they put the lap together or not, but let's see if we can be in Q3 tomorrow and [score] points on Sunday," he added.
Meanwhile, Lance Stroll, in the Silverstone-based squad's other car, was sixth fastest in FP2 after finishing a lowly P18 in FP1.
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Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes and Nick Golding, as they dissect the opening day of track action at the Marina Bay Circuit!
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