The Frenchman's quickest time of one minute 14.604 seconds on the soft tyres was 0.184 faster than Red Bull's Sergio Perez, with Mercedes' George Russell third on the timesheets as drivers focused on fuel loads, tyres and longer runs.
Qualifying for the 100km sprint race, which decides the starting grid for Sunday's main event, was on Friday with Haas' Kevin Magnussen taking a surprise first pole position in a weather-affected session.
Magnussen was ninth fastest in the practice hour, with German team mate Mick Schumacher eighth.
Red Bull's double world champion Max Verstappen, who starts the sprint on the front row, was fifth with Alpine's Fernando Alonso fourth on medium tyres.
American Logan Sargeant, taking the place of race regular Alex Albon for the session only, earned himself another super-licence point after completing 28 laps without incident for Williams.
Sargeant (21) will race for Williams next year as a replacement for Canadian Nicholas Latifi providing he secures his super-licence.
