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The Australian's time of one minute 42.489
seconds was a new record and he ended the session 0.109 seconds
ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.
Championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who is seeking his third
successive victory, was fourth behind Ricciardo’s team mate Max
Verstappen. He was 0.415 seconds off Ricciardo's pace.
The Briton, who seized the overall lead from title-rival Vettel
after leading Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas to a one-two
finish in Monza, is expecting a less straightforward weekend in
Singapore.
The tight twists of the circuit are expected to play to
Ferrari’s strengths, with the Italian outfit dominant at similar
layouts in Monaco and Hungary earlier in the year.
Red Bull are also hoping the circuit masks the power
deficiencies of their Tag Heuer-badged Renault engine.
Although the opening session was held in daylight, in contrast
to the floodlit conditions the drivers will face during the rest
of the weekend, Ricciardo’s pace appear to put Red Bull in the
frame for victory.
Sergio Perez was fifth-fastest for Force India.
Bottas, who agreed a one-year extension to his Mercedes contract
in the build up to the weekend, was sixth.
Kimi Raikkonen was seventh in his Ferrari ahead of Fernando
Alonso.
The Spaniard’s McLaren outfit has been in the spotlight this
week after the team confirmed on Friday that it would be
splitting with power-unit supplier Honda at the end of the 2017
season.
Nico Hulkenberg was ninth for Renault ahead of Toro Rosso’s
Daniil Kvyat in 10th.
The Russian’s team mate Carlos Sainz, expected to head off to
Renault next season as part of the complex engine saga, sat out
the session, handing his car to Formula 2 racer Sean Gelael.
The Indonesian was 18th, 3.3 seconds off Kvyat’s pace.
The 90-minute session was uneventful apart from a few lock-ups
from drivers as they got to grips with the track.
(Reporting by Abhishek Takle, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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