Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were next on the timesheets in P4 and P5 respectively, while Pierre Gasly completed the top six positions ahead of Sao Paulo GP stars Alpine, despite encountering some traffic during his soft-shoe run.

Haas placed both their cars in the top half of the field thanks to Kevin Magnussen finishing seventh and Nico Hulkenberg ninth, closing in on the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri, while Yuki Tsunoda and RB moved from the foot of the FP1 timing screen to tenth. climbed.

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Valtteri Bottas and Esteban Ocon finished 11th and 12th in their Kick Sauber and Alpine machines, with the former facing an engine-related five-place grid drop, just ahead of Aston Martin duo Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso.

Liam Lawson was about half a second slower than teammate Tsunoda in 15th place. The red flag and cold, slippery conditions meant that the drivers struggled to complete optimal laps, followed by the second Sauber of Zhou Guanyu.