Charles Leclerc set the fastest lap time of the morning session on the final day of the 2025 Formula 1 pre-season testing.
Friday’s session once again provided some drama as Oliver Bearman experienced trouble with his Haas car as part of the engine cover came off.
There was also trouble with just under an hour to go as the red flag was waved for glass debris on the pit straight.
Red Bull unveiled an upgrade for the RB21, featuring a new nose cone that connects to the second element of the front wing instead of the lowest element, as seen in the launch specification.
Thursday’s wet weather was absent for the final day of testing, with the track temperature shooting up towards the 30-degree mark, leading to more representative conditions for tyre behaviour.
Fernando Alonso jumped into the Aston Martin instead of Lance Stroll for the morning session, with the Canadian feeling unwell and set to return in the afternoon session.
The Spaniard halted to a stop near the pitlane exit at the start of the session, as he had to be wheeled back to the garage – but a quick fix soon saw him back out on track.
Leclerc set the early pace before Andrea Kimi Antonelli went quicker with a 1:31.189s.
Lando Norris made a slow start for McLaren, only setting a representative lap time until one and a half hours into the session.
Bearman had to return to the pits after a big part of his engine cover came off the car.
The bodywork failure on his Haas forced the British driver to step out of the car with the team working on the repairs.
The Monegasque racing driver went back to the top of the timing sheets with a 1:30.861s, as Norris had an off moment at Turn 4 with a snap of oversteer sending him wide.
As Bearman came back out on track before the halfway mark, Gabriel Bortoleto in the Sauber was forced to return to the garage – the car protected by the screens as the engineers worked on an apparent issue with the C45.
Norris improved on his fastest lap time to shoot up into third with a 1:30.943s.
The red flag was brought out with 45 minutes to go as debris appeared on the pit straight near the starting gantry – with reports of the debris being glass from the starters box.
With a clean up required, the session soon resumed minutes later, leaving just over half an hour left of running.
The session ended with the usual race practice procedures: first, the Virtual Safety Car test and then a practice red flag.
Leclerc remained the quickest driver for the morning session, just ahead of Antonelli by 0.077s in second place and Norris in third.
Max Verstappen finished in fourth place for Red Bull, setting a time of 1:31.209s, as Jack Doohan for Alpine completed the top five with a time of 1:31.239s.
Alex Albon, with a lap time of 1:31.444s, finished sixth for Williams and Isack Hadjar ended the session in seventh, setting a lap time of 1:31.761s.
Alonso finished eighth with a 1:32.084s, as Bortoleto was 0.063s back in ninth, and Bearman rounded off the top ten with a 1:32.361s.
READ MORE: F1 2025 Pre-Season Testing Results – Friday AM – Motorsport Week
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