Lewis Hamilton has set the fastest time in opening practice for the Singapore Grand Prix.

Hamilton clocked a best time of 1min 45.518sec in his McLaren around the downtown street circuit, less than a tenth of a second ahead of championship rival Felipe Massa of Ferrari. The session was held under lights in preparation for Formula One's first ever night race on Sunday.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was third fastest, with McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen fourth, ahead of Robert Kubica.

Nico Rosberg of Williams recorded a time of 1min 46.710sec to take sixth place while two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, who had briefly topped the timesheets, finished seventh in his Renault.

Nick Heidfeld of BMW Sauber, Renault's Nelson Piquet and Honda driver Jenson Button completed the top ten.

Red Bull's David Coulthard, eager to finish his Formula One career on a high, will be hoping for better after recording a time of 1min 48.517sec to finish 15th.

All eyes had been eagerly anticipating exactly how the circuit would look under floodlights and, as expected, it did not disappoint with all sections of the track brightly lit.

The rain and thunderstorms that had lashed Singapore in the morning failed to materialise in the evening meaning only a small section of standing water remained at Turn One as conditions were otherwise perfect.

Alonso, whose concerns regarding bumps at Turn 10 were allayed after the FIA rectified the issue, was quick from the start and set the initial pace but it did not take long for Hamilton to climb to the top of the standings.

Raikkonen briefly usurped Hamilton but the Englishman soon regained his lead, and he stayed there for the remainder of the session.

Mark Webber of Red Bull saw his practice ended early when he ploughed into the barrier at Turn 18 on only his fourth lap while Honda's Rubens Barrichello also crashed out when he spun off the track at the final corner.

Results from first practice at Singapore Grand Prix:

1 Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1min 45.518sec
2 Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 1:45.598
3 K Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:45.961
4 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1:46.463
5 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:46.618
6 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 1:46.710
7 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:46.725
8. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:46.964
9. Nelson Piquet Jr (Brz) Renault 1:47.175
10. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:47.277
11. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:47.570
12. Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota 1:47.662
13. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:47.706
14. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:48.097
15. David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 1:48.517
16. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda 1:48.725
17. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 1:48.839
18. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 1:48.906
19. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:49.064
20. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 1:53.703