Norris usurps Verstappen to top Day 1 of testing in afternoon

Lando Norris narrowly pipped Max Verstappen to lead Day 1 of pre-season testing at the halfway stage of the afternoon session.

Taking over from Oscar Piastri for the second four-hour session, Norris was initially limited in the pits, producing less than 20 laps.

But using the Medium C3 tyres, he was able to pump in a 1:32.484 effort to beat Verstappen's time from the morning of 1:32.548 by 0.064s, with Carlos Sainz also showing a good turn of pace with his 33 laps.

The Ferrari was just 0.100s slower than Norris, with Daniel Ricciardo also climbing into the top-five after assuming the RB from Yuki Tsunoda.

In total, eight of the teams swapped drivers, with only Red Bull and Mercedes not doing so, meaning Verstappen and George Russell got both sessions of the opening day, meaning Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton must wait.

It was another quiet session in terms of yellow flags with no stoppages or breakdowns affecting the running, although the first 30 minutes was largely devoid of track action.

The field generally gravitated towards running the Medium C3 tyres with only Alex Albon from the morning (C5) and the Alpine duo of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly (P1) not setting their fastest time on the yellow-walled tyres.