More drama was to come in the dying minutes of FP1 as Gabriel Bortoleto crashed out of the session, the Kick Sauber driver running over the kerbs before hitting the barriers at Turn 18 to bring out the red flags.
The incident brought an early finish to everybody’s running, with Piastri remaining on top thanks to his effort of 1m 16.545s to go just 0.032s clear of Norris in second. Sainz and Russell were close behind in third and fourth respectively, the top four separated by less than six-hundredths of a second.
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Hamilton took fifth after a seemingly tricky session for Ferrari, while Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Verstappen, Albon, Bortoleto and the other Kick Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg rounding out the top 10.
Lance Stroll claimed P11 for Aston Martin, ahead of Leclerc, Antonelli, Alonso and Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson. Tsunoda, meanwhile, slotted into P16, with Colapinto in P17 while the Haas pair of Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon were 18th and 20th respectively, the duo separated by Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar.
The drivers and teams will now regroup in the paddock to examine their data and prepare for Friday’s second Free Practice session, which is due to get underway at 1700 local time.
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