George Russell set the pace in Spain during the first free practice, which saw the participation of seven rookie drivers. The opening session marked the beginning of activities for the Catalan Grand Prix, revealing an initial overview of the teams’ competitiveness and the performance of new talents.
Mercedes driver George Russell secured the fastest lap in Free Practice 1 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, beating McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who completed the top three places. The result indicates a good start for the German team at the weekend.
With the presence of seven drivers considered rookies – those who participated in a maximum of two Grands Prix – the session complied with Formula 1 regulations. The rules require each starting driver to give up his seat twice during the season, providing crucial experience for young talents and fulfilling the FIA’s requirements for the development of new athletes in the sport.
Right at the start of the one-hour session, scheduled for 1:30 pm local time, most of the cars took to the track. However, Spanish driver Carlos Sainz faced immediate problems with his Williams.
The Spaniard’s car was unable to start in the pit lane, needing to be pushed back to the garage by his mechanics. Sainz managed to return to the track just five minutes later, without significantly compromising his track time.
Williams teammate and reserve driver Luke Browning was not as lucky. The Briton was unable to participate in the entire session due to an electrical fault in Alex Albon’s car, before Browning could even leave the pits.
At the top of the timesheets, Russell was the first to record a lap under 1 minute and 18 seconds, using medium Pirelli tires. The driver clocked 1m 17.414s, while his teammate and championship leader, Kimi Antonelli, watched from the sidelines, as his Mercedes was driven by Fred Vesti in FP1.
Results of the first free training in Barcelona
No detailed results have been released at this time for the practice session.
Piastri was just two tenths of a second behind Russell, who had slightly improved his time. However, the Australian reported a “vibration in the brakes”, being informed by McLaren that the problem could only be resolved before FP2.
Colton Herta, who was making his FP1 debut for Cadillac replacing Sergio Perez, had an incident in the chicane at turns 7/8. The American ended up skidding and touching the gravel at the exit of the curve.
Herta was not the only one to face difficulties with grip. Vesti had a difficult moment in Turn 1, locking the wheels and using the escape area. Charles Leclerc also escaped at Turn 10, and Max Verstappen, who finished P6, expressed dissatisfaction with the balance of his Red Bull, stating: “To be honest, I don’t know what to think about it.”
In the second half of the session, the drivers switched to soft tires. Verstappen provisionally took the lead with 1m 17.047s, just before Gabriel Bortoleto’s Audi went into the gravel at Turn 7, returning and declaring that “the car is unstable”.
Browning was unable to complete a single lap in FP1 due to electrical problems in his car.
Minutes later, Russell drastically improved his own time, clocking 1m 16.363s. Piastri resumed second place and Leclerc maintained third place, an order that remained unchanged until the end of the session.
Verstappen finished fourth, followed by current Formula 2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli (driving Lando Norris’ McLaren) and Paul Aron (in Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi). The top 10 was completed by Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls), Dino Beganovic (driving Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari), the second Racing Bulls car with Arvid Lindblad and Franco Colapinto’s Alpine.
Ollie Bearman’s Haas was 11th, ahead of Bortoleto, Sainz, Ayumu Iwasa (in Isack Haadjar’s Red Bull), Vesti, Esteban Ocon’s Haas and Pierre Gasly, who complained of a late problem in his Alpine.
Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) finished 18th, followed by the two Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. Herta and Browning completed the driver roster before the start of Free Practice 2, scheduled for Friday afternoon.
