Fernando Alonso led the pack out of the pits with a large aerodynamic-load measuring device fitted to the front of his Aston Martin and its new front wing, but it was George Russell who initially set the first-place benchmark at 1m30.214s.
This was, however, almost 10s off the early pace and Russell was quickly shuffled back during the early running – where both Mercedes drivers complained about long brake pedals and the circuit surface gained grip as it cleaned up and had rubber laid down upon it.
