Phillipe Chiappe was quickest in the morning’s one-hour practice session that was marred for Team Abu Dhabi when Thani Al-Qemzi spectacularly flipped his DAC at turn two.

The Emirati emerged unscathed from the incident, but it was a setback for the team before BRM qualifying. “Not ideal preparation at all, but we have a spare boat,” groaned Cappellini.

The session-winning Frenchman posted a potent lap of 43.58sec five minutes from the end of the session to edge Stark (43.77sec) and Carella (43.81sec) into second and third positions.

Only three drivers broke the sub 44-second barrier, but Bartek Marzsalek impressed in fourth place with a lap of 44.28sec.

Rashed Al-Qemzi (45.27sec) slotted into 10th, but fifth-placed Ahmed Al-Hameli flipped his spare BABA at turn four in the last minute and the session finished under a yellow flag.