Verstappen logged a 1m19.718s on softs, having dispatched Lando Norris from top spot as the McLaren driver had been among the first of the frontrunners to switch to the red-walled tyre. Norris had gone just 0.008s faster than Verstappen's medium-tyre effort of a 1m20.245s - but the Dutchman returned to the top on his first soft run.
Albon then set the best first sector as he offered Verstappen more than a token challenge and, although the Williams driver lost a sprinkling of time in the following two splits, he still sat within a tenth of his former team-mate.
