The Mercedes drivers were struggling with rear-end grip on their short runs. Fernando Alonso appeared to be running a higher engine power mode than his immediate rivals.
Max Verstappen might not have been fastest over one lap, but the Red Bull’s pace on a long run was as strong as ever.
The three-time champion was comfortably quickest on the race-simulation runs towards the end of the session, when drivers fill up their cars with fuel.
George Russell was next quickest, closely matched with Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez, with the proviso that the Mercedes drivers did very few laps compared with Mexican Perez.
This article was originally published by Bbc.co.uk. Read the original article here.