Lando Norris kicked off the Spanish Grand Prix weekend with a stellar performance, clocking a fastest lap of 1:14.228 in the first practice session. The Briton’s best lap was only slightly quicker than Max Verstappen’s, who finished the session just behind the McLaren driver. The session was briefly interrupted by a red flag with a little over 20 minutes remaining, caused by debris from Fernando Alonso’s car at the exit of Turn 9.
Scuderia Ferrari faced a mixed session. Carlos Sainz initially reported a lack of power early on, but managed to resolve the issue by adjusting his steering wheel settings, ultimately securing third place.
Charles Leclerc, however, struggled significantly, describing his car as “horrendous” to drive and later experiencing clutch issues, leaving him outside the top 10. Aiming to rebound from a point-less shocker of a weekend last time out in Canada, Ferrari have seven different development items on their SF-24 here – notably a new engine cover, floor and diffuser. Carlos Sainz used using Ferrari’s new floor in FP1 and Charles Leclerc used the old one so the Maranello team can make a direct comparison. If the new component works, Charles Leclerc will also use the new floor from the second free practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix.
George Russell was fourth for Mercedes, with his teammate Lewis Hamilton in seventh. Sergio Perez, looking to recover from a series of difficult races, finished fifth behind the RB20 Red Bull, just ahead of Oscar Piastri. Esteban Ocon secured eighth fastest for Alpine, who announced earlier today that Flavio Briatore has been appointed as an executive advisor. Despite causing the session’s only red flag due to damage from a kerb, Fernando Alonso finished ninth, while Alex Albon completed the top 10.
Interestingly, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Mercedes’ George Russell in third and fourth are less than four tenths off the pace and did their time on the mediums compared to softs for the top two drivers. This sets the weekend up nicely with four teams in the top four places. Here are the final results from FP1:
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