Mercedes ended the opening day of the Madrid Grand Prix ahead of Ferrari, but Friday’s technical picture remains far from settled. Andrea Kimi Antonelli set the pace, while Ferrari emerged as Mercedes’ closest challenger and gradually moved towards similar setup and energy-management choices during FP2. With teams still learning the Madring, major changes remain possible overnight.
There were plenty of technical clues throughout Friday. George Russell impressed during the race simulations, while Ferrari’s evolving approach suggested that Maranello and Mercedes were beginning to converge after initially taking different paths. At the same time, heavy tyre degradation, traffic and the limited long-run running caused by a red flag have left several important questions unanswered before qualifying and the race.
Madring immediately presents Ferrari with a complex setup challenge
The Madring made an encouraging first impression on its Formula 1 debut. The Madrid circuit is technical, varied and demanding, showing plenty of character despite its street-circuit nature.
It contains almost every type of corner. There are rapid sequences of direction changes, the long and extremely fast Monumental section and the tighter corners that characterise the third sector. The chicanes also encourage drivers to attack the kerbs, creating a difficult setup compromise.
Teams need a mechanical configuration soft enough to absorb the kerbs effectively, but not so soft that they sacrifice too much floor-generated downforce through the faster sections. Combined braking zones add another difficulty, forcing drivers to apply heavy braking pressure while still carrying steering angle and producing several lock-ups and braking errors during Friday.
Ferrari had already arrived at the Madring knowing that Madrid would require a very different aerodynamic compromise from Monza, with the team exploring different SF-26 rear-wing and aerodynamic choices for the new circuit.
Walls make driver confidence especially important
The greatest danger around the Spanish circuit, however, comes from the walls. That makes accumulating mileage, finding a rhythm and progressively building confidence even more important than usual.
A predictable and well-balanced car can therefore provide a significant advantage by giving the driver the confidence required to approach the limit. That may help explain Racing Bulls’ excellent start, with Arvid Lindblad and Yuki Tsunoda finishing fourth and eighth respectively.
The Faenza-based team has traditionally focused on producing cars that are manageable and intuitive for younger drivers, an especially useful characteristic at a circuit such as Madrid where putting together a complete lap is more complicated than usual.
Ferrari and Mercedes begin Madrid on different setup paths
Beyond giving the drivers confidence, one of the Madring’s biggest technical challenges is finding the right setup compromise between corners with very different and often opposing balance requirements.
Mercedes appeared to have prepared particularly well in that respect. Andrea Kimi Antonelli ended Friday fastest overall despite being prevented from improving his lap when Arvid Lindblad’s red flag interrupted the session.
Ferrari was the leading challenger, but the SF-26 began the day with a significantly different approach from Mercedes before moving closer to the Silver Arrows during FP2.
During the morning session, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton struggled to improve after switching to the Soft tyres. Ferrari lost most of its time to its rivals in the final sector, potentially also because of differences in car balance.
The different philosophies could also be seen in energy deployment. Mercedes was more conservative with its electrical energy along the straights in the first sector, before using more battery power later in the lap. Ferrari initially followed a different distribution strategy.
By FP2, however, the approaches used by the Brackley and Maranello teams had moved closer together. There are reasons to believe that their choices could converge further on Saturday as both teams gain a better understanding of the track.
That development fits with Fred Vasseur’s warning that Ferrari must focus less on Friday headlines and more on finding the configuration that works when Q3 arrives. The Ferrari team principal has stressed that predicting the Madring’s rapidly evolving grip level will be crucial for qualifying.
Question remains over Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari power unit specification
There is also interest in which power unit specification Lewis Hamilton is using to begin the Madrid weekend: ADUO-1 or ADUO-2.
If Lewis Hamilton is currently running the ADUO-1 specification, his SF-26 could gain a few additional horsepower when Ferrari switches specification for qualifying. Charles Leclerc, by contrast, will have to rely on the older specification after the circumstances surrounding his more recent power unit.
The precise configuration therefore remains another element to watch as Ferrari prepares for Saturday, particularly because energy deployment is already proving to be an important performance factor around the Madrid circuit.
Red Bull has room to improve before qualifying
Max Verstappen began his Madrid weekend in sixth place, with his Red Bull surprisingly beaten by Arvid Lindblad’s Racing Bulls.
The RB22 continues to suffer from its established difficulties over kerbs as well as a lack of mechanical grip, problems that had already appeared during the previous weekend at Monza.
Max Verstappen also highlighted the need to improve the balance, while technical director Pierre Waché pointed towards energy management as another area where Red Bull still has considerable room to improve before qualifying.
Those weaknesses have already been an important theme of Red Bull’s recent season, with the RB22 proving difficult to extract consistently at certain circuits.
McLaren unexpectedly off the pace on Friday
McLaren appears to be in even greater difficulty. The team is without the rotating rear-wing solution it used at Monza after deciding to prioritise other areas for Madrid.
Oscar Piastri’s MCL40 finished around half a second away from the fastest time, while Lando Norris missed FP2 because of a gearbox problem, significantly reducing the amount of data available to McLaren.
If McLaren remains this far from the front in qualifying, it would represent a major surprise. The more technical nature of the Madring had been expected to suit the car in a similar way to circuits such as Budapest and Zandvoort.
Ferrari race pace obscured by traffic and short long runs
Arvid Lindblad’s red flag reduced the available race-simulation running to only around 13 minutes, although the shortened long runs still produced a few useful indications.
Traffic heavily disrupted several drivers, particularly Charles Leclerc, who was one of only two leading drivers to use the Soft tyre alongside Max Verstappen.
The long-run programmes comprised nine laps on Medium tyres for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, ten for George Russell, eight for Lewis Hamilton and eight for Oscar Piastri. Charles Leclerc completed six laps on Softs, while Max Verstappen managed only three on the same compound.
Among the drivers using the Medium tyre, George Russell stood out with stronger pace than Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri. Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen were harder to assess because of their different compound and the disruption caused by traffic.
The limited data reinforces Charles Leclerc’s belief that qualifying could become the decisive stage of Ferrari’s Madrid weekend, particularly if overtaking remains as difficult as Friday suggested.
Two forms of tyre degradation could transform the Madrid race
The lap-time progression nevertheless highlighted significant tyre degradation, and the problem appears to have two separate components.
The new asphalt is encouraging the cars to slide, which raises the surface temperature of the tyres. At the same time, those slides are tearing at the rubber and producing visible graining.
Normally, that situation improves as more rubber is laid onto the racing surface throughout the weekend. Friday’s degradation levels therefore may not accurately represent what teams will encounter on Sunday.
However, if degradation remains high during the race, the strategic picture could change considerably. A circuit that currently appears extremely difficult for overtaking could become more open if large differences in tyre performance develop between cars at different stages of a stint.
Even in that scenario, track position is expected to remain extremely valuable. That places particular emphasis on the fight for pole position, and after topping Friday with Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes has already established itself as an early contender.
Ferrari, however, remains firmly in the picture. The SF-26 finished Friday as Mercedes’ closest challenger, while its setup and energy-management philosophy moved progressively towards that of the leading team. With the Madring still evolving rapidly and the teams continuing to learn, the competitive order could change significantly before qualifying.
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