The third time of this first session was for the Dutch Max Verstappencurrent world champion and current leader in the championship classification, who was three tenths behind his teammate Sergio Pérez.
The fourth time trial of the session was for the Spanish Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari)half a second behind the Mexican.
Behind the Red Bulls and the two Ferraris, the other cars were relegated to more than a second.
This Friday another free trial session takes place. The third free practice session, on Saturday (13:00), will precede the qualifying session.
This is how the times were in the first free trial session:
Sergio Pérez (MEX/Red Bull) 1:45.476 (21 laps)
Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) 1:45.603 (21)
Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) 1:45.810 (24)
Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Ferrari) 1:46.012 (22)
Fernando Alonso (ESP/Alpine-Renault) 1:46.571 (21)
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 1:46.667 (21)
Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) 1:46.696 (25)
George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) 1:46.705 (23)
Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) 1:46.830 (25)
Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 1:46.917 (20)
Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:47.691 (19)
Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1:47.847 (24)
Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas-Ferrari) 1:47.946 (24)
Sebastian Vettel (GER/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1:47.970 (22)
Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Alfa Romeo) 1:48.078 (22)
Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Alfa Romeo) 1:48.222 (24)
Alexander Albon (THA/Williams-Mercedes) 1:48.419 (22)
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:48.810 (22)
Nicholas Latifi (CAN/Williams-Mercedes) 1:50.921 (7)
Mick Schumacher (GER/Haas-Ferrari) 1:58.332 (3)