first of Friday's two ninety-minute practice sessions ended with Max Verstappen fastest ahead of Red Bull teammate Alex Albon, with Charles Leclerc third fastest for Ferrari. The session was briefly suspended after Leclerc hit a bollard during its opening minutes. Championship leader Hamilton was only fifteenth fastest while Bottas was ninth. Carlos Sainz Jr. stopped on track as his McLaren broke down. Several drivers had spins during the first practice session, and all struggled for speed, with drivers stating there was a lack of grip following the track being resurfaced. Bitumen seeping from the fresh tarmac and the cold November weather were amongst the contributing factors. The event organisers washed the track before the session, and the circuit had not finished drying by the start of the session. Lap times in first practice were approximately ten seconds slower that those set at the circuit's previous Grand Prix meeting and fifteen to twenty seconds slower that the lap times that were expected in qualifying. The second Friday practice session ended with Verstappen fastest ahead of Leclerc and Bottas. Verstappen's best time in the second session was nearly seven seconds faster than in the first. Championship contenders Bottas and Hamilton both improved their positions significantly in this session. Bottas compared the low-grip track conditions to his experiences of driving on ice in his native Finland. Rubber building up on the tarmac contributed to the higher grip levels. The third and final one hour practice session was held in wet conditions on Saturday morning and ended with Verstappen fastest ahead of Leclerc and Albon, while championship leader Hamilton did not set a time. Several drivers criticised the track conditions during this session. Leclerc had a minor collision with Renault driver Esteban Ocon, while McLaren driver Lando Norris spun off the circuit. Qualifying Qualifying started at 15:00 local time (UTC+03:00) on the Saturday. The air temperature at the start of qualifying was and the track temperature was . The session was split into three subsessions. After each subsession the slowest five cars had their qualifying positions set and were prevented from taking part in the next subsession. Lap times were deleted if drivers left the track at the exit of the first, sixth, or fourteenth corners. The session was defined by a low-grip track surface and damp weather, with the first subsession being suspended for 45 minutes as a result. Qualifying report Racing Point