While testing times are heavily influenced by fuel loads, run programmes and car settings, Leclerc’s delivery of a lap that is in the range of Mercedes – which completed its final day of running on Thursday – caps a week where Ferrari has been encouraged by a strong level of reliability.<\/p>\n
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was second fastest as he got back to work after being forced to sit out Thursday afternoon because of a fuel system problem<\/a>. The Australian completed 79 laps and set a best time of 1m17.446s, which is one second slower than Russell’s best effort.<\/p>\n Max Verstappen was finally able to get testing again for Red Bull, with the squad having received spare parts<\/a> from its Milton Keynes base to replace those broken by Isack Hadjar in his sizeable accident on Tuesday<\/a>.<\/p>\n Despite a small off at Turn 10 in the morning, the four-time F1 world champion was third quickest with a lap of 1m18.285s.<\/p>\n The main interest in the morning surrounded Fernando Alonso as he got his first taste of Adrian Newey’s bold AMR26 car<\/a>.<\/p>\n Aston Martin had no repeat of the early reliability drama that stopped Lance Stroll on Thursday, as Alonso completed a series of short runs<\/a> – although it was noticeable that he was keeping his speed limited on the main straight.<\/p>\n Even so, Alonso set a best time of 1m20.795s as he completed a total of 49 laps – with the two-time world champion due to stay in the car for the rest of the day.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/G_6PkbhXcAANkfu-1.jpeg\")
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