Watch Alex Albon's crash as he tops the times in Brazil

After rain earlier in the day, the top runners barely ran during the first session, despite predictions it would rain through Saturday's qualifying session as well. The race is set to be dry, however.

Max Verstappen harmlessly spun off with five minutes to go, but within seconds, team-mate Alex Albon, who topped the timesheets, hit the wall, bringing out the red flag.

The British-Thai driver had only completed nine laps en route to the fastest time of 1:16.1429, while Verstappen toured just three laps during the session and, like champion Lewis Hamilton, opted not to set a time in wet conditions.