In the first session, Verstappen lost control of his Red Bull at Turn Four towards the end of the hour’s running on his first lap on a second set of soft-compound tyres. Perez also lost control of his car on his run on soft tyres in the first session, in his case at Turn Three. Team principal Christian Horner admitted in the break between the sessions that neither Red Bull driver had been happy with their car in the first hour. The first session was punctuated by a 10-minute red flag caused by the failure of F1’s GPS system, which tracks car position on track.

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