Almost the entire field opened their lap tallies on the medium tyres, barring the hard-shod Ferrari duo, and ownership over the fastest lap time quickly changed hands as the times tumbled.
Valtteri Bottas was among the first drivers to set a somewhat representative time, but it didn't last long at the top as the circuit continued to rubber in; Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton set times in the high 1m15s, until Verstappen vaulted to the top with a 1m15.487s.
