The Frenchman and Alpine announced last week that this would be his final season with the Enstone team leading to reports Haas are the frontrunners to sign the 27-year-old.
with a near five-second gap to make up – but Russell flew back past into P2 on lap 49 as he.
Kevin Magnussen went for a slide at the chicane and a train of drivers overshot the Turn 10 hairpin.
with Magnussen passing Oscar Piastri for fourth place on the road.
But Norris regained the lead until he opted to stay out for a couple more laps as the drivers swapped onto the slicks and that too cost him the top spot with Verstappen able to move past the McLaren after the pit exit.
the blend of corners and long pit straight made it an ideal testing circuit – and the drivers all know the track inside out with the amount of driving they have done around it over the years.
the team’s line-up for the foreseeable future is locked in as Verstappen still has four years to run on his contract.