When the session resumed with around 40 minutes left on the clock, plenty of drivers took the opportunity to bolt on Pirelli’s soft rubber and pump in some qualifying-style laps, initially 1m 10.986s from Verstappen and 1m 10.961s from Lando Norris. .
Piastre and his recovered ribs further reduced the benchmark by 1m 10.763s, with Mercedes in P1 with Russell (1m 10.702s) and Hamilton in P3 – ahead of both the top five drivers. – Half a tenth of a second.
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Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was sixth, 0.371s clear of Verstappen, followed by Yuki Tsunoda’s RB and Kevin Magnussen’s Haas who enjoyed a more productive session than sidelined team-mate Hulkenberg.
Charles Leclerc finished ninth as the sole Ferrari driver for most of the session as Carlos Sainz suffered gearbox problems, while future Williams team-mate Alex Alban completed the top 10 ahead of the other Aston of Lance Stroll.
Aiming to get his season back on track after a challenging run, Perez finished six-tenths behind team-mate Verstappen in 12th, followed by Daniel Ricciardo’s other RB and 2025 team-mate Alpine of Pierre Gasly now confirmed. As Jack Doohan.