McLaren<\/a> and Red Bull traded fastest laps during most of the day, with Mercedes occasionally joining the fray. It only took a few minutes for Lando Norris<\/a> to set a first decent benchmark in 1m34.625s, subsequently outpaced by Max Verstappen<\/a> by just 0.005s.<\/p>\n Norris responded with a 1m33.453s that was 0.006s quicker than George Russell<\/a>\u2019s Wednesday reference, which Verstappen got close to but failed to match in the morning session \u2013 the Dutchman set a 1m33.584s.<\/p>\n In the afternoon, Verstappen did snatch the top spot away from McLaren for a while, setting a 1m33.444s on prototype Pirelli rubber before improving to a 1m33.162s with the C3 compound.<\/p>\n Piastri had taken the MCL40 over from Norris and achieved a 1m33.624s on C2 tyres. The Australian went on to set a 1m32.861s shortly after 6pm local time with C3 rubber, but Antonelli immediately outpaced him in 1m32.803s.<\/p>\n McLaren and Mercedes also had the most productive day mileage-wise, with 158 and 156 laps respectively, while Verstappen topped the chart for drivers with 139 tours.<\/p>\n Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari<\/p>\n Photo by: Simon Galloway \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n Ferrari<\/a> came next amid a troubled day. Lewis Hamilton<\/a> completed five laps in the first 30 minutes but spent the remainder of the morning session in the garage due to an unspecified issue.<\/p>\n The seven-time world champion went on to have a 78-lap day. He set a 1m33.928s, running wide in Turn 10; on a subsequent run, he was 0.451s down on Antonelli after sector two but went wide again in the last corner and pitted immediately. He eventually put a decent lap together in 1m33.689s with C3 tyres and went on to improve to a 1m33.408s.<\/p>\n Read Also:<\/p>\n Alpine<\/a> topped the midfield, as a glory run by Franco Colapinto<\/a> with C5 tyres \u2013 the softest in Pirelli\u2019s range \u2013 yielded a 1m33.818s. Earlier, Audi<\/a>\u2019s Nico Hulkenberg<\/a> set the first sub-1m34s lap by a midfield team in 1m33.987s with the C4 compound, on an encouraging day despite over two hours in the garage this morning as the team investigated a hydraulics issue.<\/p>\n Haas had the seventh-fastest car today, but Esteban Ocon<\/a>\u2019s quickest lap was just 1.4s slower than Antonelli\u2019s benchmark.<\/p>\n Racing Bulls<\/a> followed three further tenths away, with its car having also spent some two hours in the garage this morning, which didn\u2019t prevent Liam Lawson<\/a> from completing 106 laps. Williams<\/a>\u2019 Alex Albon<\/a> was 0.023s down on Lawson with an even better tally of 117 laps, despite not running in the first 90 minutes of the afternoon session.<\/p>\n The remaining two cars were some way adrift. Like yesterday, Cadillac spent the first third of the morning and afternoon sessions in the garage; Sergio Perez<\/a> set the new team\u2019s fastest time in 1m35.369s, 2.6s down on Antonelli and 0.8s away from the back of the midfield.<\/p>\n Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing<\/p>\n Photo by: Sam Bagnall \/ Sutton Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n Aston Martin arguably had the worst day of all, after on Wednesday<\/a> the team spent four hours in the garage due to a power unit issue before causing a red flag when Lance Stroll<\/a> strangely spun into the gravel trap.<\/p>\n The AMR26 caused another interruption early on Thursday afternoon as Fernando Alonso<\/a> stopped on track with apparent technical gremlins. The two-time F1 champion completed 68 laps, but all other teams \u2013 but Ferrari \u2013 have collected more than 100 tours\u2019 worth of data, and Alonso still was 4.669s off the pace.<\/p>\n![\"Lewis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771538108_98_lewis-hamilton-ferrari.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Fernando](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771538108_343_fernando-alonso-aston-martin-r.jpg\")
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