Leclerc guided the F1-75 challenger to the top of the timing screens with a little over 70 minutes of the four-hour run left on the clock as he posted a 1m20.165s effort.
That was 4s shy of the pole lap set by Lewis Hamilton in Spain for the grand prix last year on the updated layout with the revised Turn 10.
Leclerc’s benchmark was set while the Ferrari was shod with the yellow sidewall C3 Pirelli tyres, and the Monegasques also completed some a landmark 80 laps as he found three tenths over Lando Norris.
For the first collective runout of the new grand prix machines, which feature a radical shift in aerodynamic philosophy to generate downforce via ground effect in a bid to improve overtaking, the public has not been able to access live timing or a TV feed.
Norris ushered in this new era when he became the first driver to take to the track at 9am local time aboard his McLaren MCL36, if only to complete an installation lap.
He was swiftly joined by George Russell, Charles…
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