The first free practice session of the year was very tentative, with only a few drivers on soft tyres.
For the first 30 minutes, everyone tried medium tyres, so it's no surprise that Max Verstappen set the benchmark time. The Dutchman was complaining a lot and Mercedes took advantage of this and closed in on the bulls. Slowly, the soft tyres came out and Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo were quickest on them, both of them turning around the front.
Behind the top 4, Fernando Alonso was the most efficient of the mediums, still on the mediums. As most of the riders didn't really try the red sidewall tyres, the final result didn't change much. To little surprise, Verstappen was only sixth, followed by the trio of George Russell, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, with Valtteri Bottas rounding out the top three.
