As expected on a day heavily shaped by the weather, rain set in right on cue midway through the morning, disrupting team programmes and forcing most outfits to remain in the garages.

Mercedes and Haas, for instance, both opted to sit out the day entirely in the hope of enjoying better conditions tomorrow. The same has so far applied to McLaren, whose first appearance on track could still come later in the afternoon, although information remains limited at this stage.

The only two teams to run during the morning — both in dry conditions and for a handful of laps on a damp track — were Red Bull and Ferrari, with Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc at the wheel respectively.

Both drivers made their first-ever outings in their new cars, with the four-time world champion reportedly setting a 1:20.0 lap. Leclerc was understood to be around eight tenths slower, although the times remain unofficial and the tyre compounds used are unknown.

Once the rain set in, the circuit fell quiet until around an hour from the end of the session, when Leclerc and Verstappen ventured out for a handful of laps in wet conditions to get a first feel for Pirelli’s new 2026 intermediate tyres.

Gleaning any further information proved a near-impossible task, given the heavy security around the circuit and the fact that live timing was unavailable today, unlike yesterday.

It remains to be seen who will run in the afternoon and whether the rain will continue to dominate proceedings, or if the track will gradually dry and allow teams to rack up mileage in dry conditions, with an improvement in the weather expected over the coming days.