Practice report

F1 Barcelona GP: George Russell tops Barcelona first practice

Russell aims to rebound from a disappointing Monaco weekend as he tops FP1 ahead of the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix

Mercedes F1 driver George Russell has topped first free practice at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, heading McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc at Montmelo.

On a hot Friday afternoon, Russell set a best time of 1m16.363s to head Piastri by two tenths. In a heavily upgraded Ferrari SF-26, which includes a new front wing and floor, Leclerc was 0.520s behind in third, followed by Red Bull's Max Verstappen and McLaren FP1 driver Leonardo Fornaroli.

A third of the way through the one-hour session, Russell upped the ante with a 1m17.353s lap on Pirelli's medium-tyres, which was soon bested by Verstappen's 1m17.047s, on softs.

Around the halfway mark, Russell took a significant bite out of his time to set a 1m16.363s lap, a benchmark which would remain untouched for the remainder of the session.

Piastri was a strong second on mediums, just two tenths back and ahead of Leclerc and Verstappen, who initially complained about the unpredictable mix of understeer and oversteer in his Red Bull RB22.

Standing in for world champion Lando Norris, Fornaroli was the first of a sizeable rookie crop in Barcelona, which is a safe proving ground for teams to satisfy one of their four rookie outing requirements.

Paul Aron was in action for Audi

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

Paul Aron took sixth for Audi in Nico Hulkenberg's car, ahead of Liam Lawson and Dino Beganovic, who took the reins of Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari. Arvid Lindblad and Franco Colapinto rounded out the top 10.

Elsewhere, Ayumu Iwasa was in Isack hadjar's Red Bull in 14th, while 15th-placed Frederik Vesti deputised for championship leader Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes.

F2 driver and former IndyCar ace Colton Herta received his first FP1 outing with Cadillac as he prepares for a possible F1 future, with the Californian 21st and last of the drivers establishing a laptime.

That's because Williams reserve Luke Browning was not able to run due to suspected electrical issues on Alex Albon's FW48. The Super Formula driver is set for another outing in two weeks at the Austrian Grand Prix.

F1 Barcelona GP: FP1 results

All Stats

Cla	Driver	#	Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	G. Russell Mercedes	63	Mercedes	Mercedes	27	1'16.363		S	219.546
2	O. Piastri McLaren	81	McLaren	Mercedes	28	+0.203 1'16.566	0.203	S	218.964
3	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	Ferrari	Ferrari	28	+0.520 1'16.883	0.317	S	218.061
4	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	3	Red Bull	Red Bull	29	+0.684 1'17.047	0.164	S	217.597
5	L. Fornaroli McLaren	67	McLaren	Mercedes	22	+0.853 1'17.216	0.169	S	217.120
6	P. Aron Audi	97	Audi	Audi	24	+0.958 1'17.321	0.105	S	216.825
7	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30	RB	Red Bull	24	+1.109 1'17.472	0.151	S	216.403
8	D. Beganovic Ferrari	38	Ferrari	Ferrari	30	+1.415 1'17.778	0.306	S	215.551
9	A. Lindblad Racing Bulls	41	RB	Red Bull	29	+1.441 1'17.804	0.026	S	215.479
10	F. Colapinto Alpine	43	Alpine	Mercedes	28	+1.530 1'17.893	0.089	S	215.233
11	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87	Haas	Ferrari	25	+1.809 1'18.172	0.279	S	214.465
12	G. Bortoleto Audi	5	Audi	Audi	28	+1.846 1'18.209	0.037	S	214.364
13	C. Sainz Williams	55	Williams	Mercedes	27	+1.930 1'18.293	0.084	S	214.134
14	A. Iwasa Red Bull Racing	36	Red Bull	Red Bull	21	+1.935 1'18.298	0.005	S	214.120
15	F. Vesti Mercedes	72	Mercedes	Mercedes	28	+2.002 1'18.365	0.067	S	213.937
16	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31	Haas	Ferrari	27	+2.009 1'18.372	0.007	S	213.918
17	P. Gasly Alpine	10	Alpine	Mercedes	23	+2.145 1'18.508	0.136	S	213.547
18	V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team	77	Cadillac	Ferrari	23	+2.551 1'18.914	0.406	S	212.448
19	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14	Aston Martin	Honda	23	+3.704 1'20.067	1.153	S	209.389
20	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18	Aston Martin	Honda	21	+3.955 1'20.318	0.251	S	208.735
21	C. Herta Cadillac F1 Team	25	Cadillac	Ferrari	27	+4.334 1'20.697	0.379	S	207.754
22	L. Browning Williams	46	Williams	Mercedes	0
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