The stage is set for an intriguing qualifying duel between Formula 1 World Championship contenders Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, as the pair topped the one-hour FP1 session - the Ferrari driver less than a tenth of a second ahead of his Mercedes rival.
Vettel's best lap of 1:20.509 was good enough for top spot on the timing screens, a mere 0.081 of a second up on Hamilton in second, followed by Kimi Raikkonen a tenth down in third at the wheel of the other Ferrari.
Valtteri Bottas was struggling to find the sweet spot on his Mercedes and was half a second down on his teammate, he was fourth when the chequered waved to end the session.
The Red Bull duo are struggling with the obvious power deficit, with Max Verstappen fifth fastest but eight tenths off the top time while teammate Daniel Ricciardo is having a niggle packed weekend. The Australian was only good for in eighth.
Ahead of him was Kevin Magnussen in the Haas working well around the iconic venue. Teammate Romain Grosjean was less effective with the tenth best time, but three tenths down on his teammate and a tad slower than Charles Leclerc in the Sauber who was good for ninth - five Ferrari powered drivers in the top ten.
Marcus Ericcson was the odd man out of the Ferrari customer quartet, the Swede back in action for the first time since his scary FP2 crash on Friday. The Sauber team doing a good job overnight to get their driver out for the hour session.
Esteban Ocon was seventh in the Force India with teammate Sergio Perez 11th.