The world championship leader was 0.424 seconds quicker than Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, with Verstappen’s title rival Lewis Hamilton 0.509secs off the pace. The day’s running produced the expected picture of pace at the front – Verstappen a strong favourite for race victory and Hamilton and Mercedes facing a race of damage limitation. The good news for Mercedes, such as it was, is that Hamilton and Bottas were second and third quickest. Perez was close to them but unable to beat them, and the Ferraris, which had been expected to be more competitive at this track, were more than a second off the pace.

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