On the first of three testing days ahead of next week's season opener at the same venue, Verstappen finished over a second clear of the competition after completing a mammoth 142 laps aboard his new Red Bull RB20.
The three-time world champion set the pace in the morning session and stayed on board for the remainder of the day, reclaiming the lead from McLaren Lando Norris around the halfway mark with a lap of 1m31.662s on Pirelli's yellow-marked C3 tyres.
