\n<\/p>\n
Hamilton, speaking before he drove in the afternoon session, was optimistic about his first pre-season test with his new team.<\/p>\n
“I feel like we’ve built a really good foundation but these guys out there look really competitive, it looks very close,” he said.<\/p>\n
“This is the most positive feeling I’ve had for a long time.”<\/p>\n
But his day ended early when Ferrari curtailed his running prematurely, before he was able to complete a planned race distance.<\/p>\n
Hamilton was nearly 0.5secs quicker than team-mate Charles Leclerc but was running a tyre compound one step softer. He also drove in the afternoon session while Leclerc went in the morning.<\/p>\n
Pre-season testing is a notoriously unreliable indication of true competitiveness as there are so many factors that can distort the picture.<\/p>\n
Teams do not reveal the specification in which they were running their cars, and fuel loads and engine modes have a major impact on performance.<\/p>\n
In addition, the weather conditions on Friday were very different from the day before – Friday was sunny and considerably warmer, with a stronger wind, meaning the track was slower than it had been on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Despite Verstappen’s pace, the Red Bull looked difficult to drive, and the team were trying out different set-ups and configurations on the car, including swapping between two different front wing specifications.<\/p>\n
The four-time world champion had a spin late in the day at Turn One.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n