Max Verstappen led the pack out of the pits at the start of the one-hour session and he set the first-place benchmark at 1m20.154s in his RB19 that was fitted with an aerodynamic load-measuring device.
He was quickly shuffled back in the standings as the rest of the drivers that had headed out when the track went live posted their opening times, with Valtteri Bottas’s 1m18.728s the best of the very limited bunch.
The running was then stopped after Alpine’s Pierre Gasly came to a halt on the long run between Turns 7 and 8 due to a driveshaft issue.
Once his car was pushed behind the barriers as FP1’s first five minutes closed out, the session did not get going again as expected.
Mercedes was so certain green flag conditions would soon return it sent Lewis Hamilton and George Russell to the end of the pitlane, but when they were held there for several minutes the Black Arrows mechanics had to rush down and wheel the cars back to their garages.
Mercedes said in a statement: “Both cars headed to end of pit lane but then a problem in race control meant the circuit was not reopened while it is resolved”.
Source: Autosport