Formula 1 returned this morning with the first session of testing concluding with Max Verstappen on top with a time of 1:32:548.
This mornings session featured Max
Verstappen (Red Bull), George Russell (Mercedes), Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Yuki Tsunoda (RB), Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), Valterri Bottas (Sauber) and Alex Albon (Williams).
After the first hour and a half, Leclerc topped the time sheets with at 1:33:658 over Alonso with Ocon taking a trip through the gravel trap at turn four for the first ‘off’ of the day.
The Frenchman later expressed concern regarding the power unit to the team and was brought in for checks.
Just before the 2 hour mark, Albon experience problems with his DRS and was called back into the garage for the Williams mechanics to find a solution.
Verstappen led with 2 hours left with a 1:33:065 just over a tenth ahead of Leclerc and two over Alonso.
Albon went off the track twice in quick succession with one being a distraction of Ocon’s Alpine returning back to the track after the team fixed his issue earlier on in the session.
Mercedes’ Russell spent some time of the session in the garage with the team suffering with a hybrid system problem.
With almost an hour to, Magnussen was stuck in the garage as his team were working on his car over a suspected fuel system issue.
With just over half an hour to go, Verstappen topped the times just over seven tenths ahead of Leclerc.
With 20 minutes to go, Albon was forced to stop his car at the side of the track with a reliability issue and was wheeled off the track. Luckily, no red flag was deployed and the session was able to continue.
The final session standings are as follows:
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 1:32.548
2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.699
3. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +0.837
4. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +1.110
5. Yuki Tsunoda (RB) +1.588
6. George Russell (Mercedes) + 1.682
7. Valtteri Bottas (Sauber) +1.883
8. Alex Albon (Williams) +2.039
9. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) +2.129
10. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) + 3.144
Verstappen and Russell are the only two drivers completing the full day with everyone else swapping out for their teammates.