Lando Norris fastest in first practice at Spanish Grand Prix
Lando Norris was fastest in first practice for the Spanish Grand Prix from Barcelona. The McLaren man, fresh from winning in Monaco last weekend, set a time of a 1:13.718, nearly three tenths clear of Red Bull's Max Verstappen. Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton was third, with his teammate Charles Leclerc fourth and McLaren's Oscar Piastri in fifth.
Both Mercedes of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were outside the top ten whilst the two Spaniards, Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso, also could not crack the top ten on home soil.
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Second practice begins at 4pm BST.
01:54 PM BST
Second practice
The drivers will be back out on track at 4pm BST so we will return later to take you through all the action from second practice.
01:49 PM BST
RB team principal Laurent Mekies speaking to Sky Sports
'For us, so far, it has been pretty neutral. But the devil is in the detail, so we need to have a careful detail.
'These cars are very easy to break, in terms of the way they perform, so we need to be very, very careful.'
The RBs were sixth and eighth respectively in first practice - Joan Monfort/AP
01:45 PM BST
Nico Rosberg on Sky Sports
'The big question is, has that Monaco win given Lando [Norris] that necessary boost of confidence that he has found his mojo again, and he is back to his best.
'It looked like it out there just now. He was absolutely confident and flying.'
Lando Norris quickest by nearly four tenths in first practice -01:41 PM BST
Athletic Bilbao's Nico Williams taking in all the action
Footballers in the house in Catalunya, not just Monaco last weekend - Albert Gea/Reuters
01:38 PM BST
How the leaderboard looks from FP1
Lando Norris 1:13.718
Max Verstappen +0.367
Lewis Hamilton +0.378
Charles Leclerc +0.520
Oscar Piastri +0.576
Liam Lawson +0.621
Oliver Bearman +0.879
Isack Hadjar +0.887
Yuki Tsunoda +0.925
Pierre Gasly +1.028
George Russell +1.033
Lance Stroll +1.068
Fernando Alonso +1.080
Nico Hulkenberg +1.147
Carlos Sainz +1.217
Gabriel Bortoleto +1.437
Ryo Hirakawa +1.580
Kimi Antonelli +1.651
Victor Martins +1.804
Franco Colapinto +1.812
01:31 PM BST
FP1 finished
That is it for first practice and it is the McLaren of Lando Norris who is quickest in the session, ahead of the Red Bull of Max Verstappen and the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton.
01:26 PM BST
End of their sessions?
There are five minutes remaining in FP1 but it appears Alonso's session is done. He reported over team radio that there was a problem as he came back into the pits and is out of the car.
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It appears the session is also over for the Alpine of Colapinto, who is out of his car, which is on the stands with plenty of work going on.
01:23 PM BST
Problems at Aston Martin?
01:20 PM BST
Long runs
Norris is on the soft tyre and McLaren will be getting some data on how the soft is performing over a longer run. The McLaren is so good on its tyres, which is a big part of why their race pace is very good.
01:15 PM BST
Top ten with 15 minutes to go
Norris 1:13.718
Verstappen +0.367
Hamilton +0.378
Leclerc +0.520
Piastri +0.576
Lawson +0.621
Bearman +0.879
Hadjar +0.887
Tsunoda +0.925
Gasly +1.028
01:04 PM BST
Changes at the top
Leclerc had gone half a second faster than Russell but he is then pipped at the top by Verstappen. Norris is on a lap, as is Hamilton.
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The seven-time world champion is just off the time of Verstappen before Norris goes purple, purple, purple to go nearly four tenths quicker than Verstappen.
Piastri can only go fifth, more than half a second down on his teammate Norris.
Lando Norris is currently quickest - Bradley Collyer/PA
01:00 PM BST
New man at the top of the timesheets
Mercedes' George Russell is on the medium tyre and goes just over half a second clear of Norris. The Sauber of Hulkenberg then jumps up into second, just over a tenth off Russell, but he is on the soft tyre.
Hamilton is now back out on track and has a new set of softs on the car. His Ferrari teammate Leclerc is also on a new set of softs.
12:59 PM BST
Meanwhile at Alpine
It has been a tumultuous few months for the team, with now former team principal Oliver Oakes departing and they have already had a change of drivers with Colapinto replacing Jack Doohan. Flavio Briatore is back at the team and seemingly at the helm and he will face the media in between sessions.
12:55 PM BST
Activity at Ferrari
The mechanics are hard at work on Hamilton's Ferrari.
12:54 PM BST
Not much change?
Verstappen, who sits third on the timesheets at the moment, has also been having his say ahead of the weekend on the front wings:
'It will change the balance of the car a bit. I do not expect massive time gains or losses between the teams. The wings never gave us a massive performance gain. I do not know if we got it wrong or did not extract the most from it.
'Even for the other teams, I am sure it is manageable. If you have a good car, you have a good car. Okay the front wing bends a bit less but you can tune it around.'
Max Verstappen is currently third in the drivers' standings -12:47 PM BST
View from the seven-time world champion
Hamilton has nearly collided with the RB of Hadjar at turn 12. He is currently eighth fastest and here is what he has had to say on the testing of the flexible front wings ahead of the weekend:
'The flexi-wing was a band-aid for quality design I would say - getting the set-up and creating devices and mechanisms on the car mechanically, all the engineers are able to do it.
'It is still not that easy to get the load that you need on the front end at a low speed, or just rely solely on mechanical grip. So far everyone has been managing, some people better than others.
'This weekend is going to be interesting because we have got less flex at the front wing. You have a lot of front end at high-speed corners and less at low speed. It will be interesting to see how that affects different teams. Some teams probably did a better job than others, so I have no idea how it will affect us.'
What does Lewis think of the front wing testing? - Bradley Collyer/PA
12:43 PM BST
That did not last long!
Norris goes purple in the first two sectors and goes quickest overall, over two tenths clear of Alonso. Here is the current top five:
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Norris 1:15.259
Alonso +0.221
Verstappen +0.546
Piastri +0.553
Stroll +0.663
12:41 PM BST
Home fans celebrating
Still early days in FP1 but Alonso is at the top of the timesheets, much to the delight of the home faithful. I suspect there will not be many times at all this weekend that Alonso or Sainz will be fastest. He is a tenth and a half clear of Norris. Verstappen is in third followed by Piastri and Leclerc.
12:38 PM BST
Into the gravel
Hirakawa is in for Ocon at Haas for this session but he has had a trip off the track and into the gravel on the exit of turn 10 having taken too much speed into the corner and went far too deep.
At Williams Sainz is still waiting for his mechanics to finish working on the front of his car.
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Most of the cars are on the hard tyre except for Aston Martin's Stroll and Colapinto in the Williams, who are both on the mediums.
12:32 PM BST
Delay for Sainz
The Spaniard, on home soil, will not be heading out any time soon as his Williams mechanics are doing some work to the front of his car.
Plenty of aero rakes on the cars in the early stages of FP1.
12:30 PM BST
Ready for action
The green light is showing at the end of the pit lane and we are under way in FP1. At Alpine Victor Martins is in for Alex Albon and down at Haas Ryo Hirakawa is in for Esteban Ocon.
It is hot to say the least in Catalunya, with a 0% chance of rain and a track temperature nearing 50 degrees.
12:28 PM BST
Home favourites
Williams' Carlos Sainz -Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso - Siu Wu/Shutterstock
12:25 PM BST
Sky Sport's Nico Rosberg on his former teammate Lewis Hamilton
'It is a little bit of a continuation of his form from last year, where there was already a bit of a dip there. George [Russell] had the upper hand and was beating him at Mercedes.
'Now it has kind of continued a little bit. He is just a little bit lacking here and there, especially in ultimate pace in qualifying. We know Charles [Leclerc] is an incredible qualifier, so Lewis has to find a little bit more there.
'Even he is the greatest of all time, at some point, you are going to get a little bit slower – that is age related. And when you are 40, it is going to happen sooner rather than later. So the question is whether that age has come where you start to get a little bit slower.
'Even a tenth makes a huge difference in this sport, especially when you are up against some of the greatest from the new generation, such as Charles, who is considered one of the absolute best qualifiers out there.'
12:22 PM BST
Verstappen and Hamilton dominant in Spain
12:19 PM BST
Pictures from the pit lane
A look at the McLaren front wing - Bradley Collyer/PA
A look at the Ferrari front wing - Bradley Collyer/PA
12:16 PM BST
Flexi-wings!
All the debate going into this weekend surrounds the testing flexible front wings. Here is a sample of what some of the team principals have been saying:
12:14 PM BST
Results so far this season
Australia: 1. Lando Norris 2. Max Verstappen 3. George Russell
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China: 1. Oscar Piastri 2. Lando Norris 3. George Russell
Japan: 1. Max Verstappen 2. Lando Norris 3. Oscar Piastri
Bahrain: 1. Oscar Piastri 2. George Russell 3. Lando Norris
Saudi Arabia: 1. Oscar Piastri 2. Max Verstappen 3. Charles Leclerc
Miami: 1. Oscar Piastri 2. Lando Norris 3. George Russell
Imola: 1. Max Verstappen 2. Lando Norris 3. Oscar Piastri
Monaco: 1. Lando Norris 2. Charles Leclerc 3. Oscar Piastri
12:09 PM BST
Schedule for the weekend
Today:
First practice- 12.30pm
Second practice- 4pm
Tomorrow:
Third practice- 11.30am
Qualifying- 3pm
Sunday:
Race- 2pm
11:48 AM BST
Preview: No magic bullet
Formula One heads to Spain for round nine of the 2025 World Championship. This track on the outskirts of Barcelona is very familiar to the teams as it hosted pre-season testing for many-a-year but this will be the final time this circuit hosts the Spanish Grand Prix before it heads to Madrid next year.
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Lando Norris claimed his maiden victory around the streets of Monaco last weekend to close the gap on his McLaren teammate Ocasr Piastri in the drivers' standings. It was Norris' first race win since the opening round in Australia. Norris has said that his approach will not change, no matter where he sits in the championship.
'It is a great feeling to be in the lead of the championship and have more points than everyone,' Norris said. 'But it is not something I look at, it is not something that changes anything I do day to day or how hard I work, or what I try to achieve. I just try to win this weekend and I will try to win in Montreal and Austria. It has got nothing to do with what position I am.'
Piastri leads the way in the drivers' standings on 161 points, just three points ahead of his McLaren teammate Lando Norris. Red Bull's Max Verstappen is a further 22 points back and Norris believes it would be silly to count out the four-time world champion.
'Mathematically the whole grid can win the championship at the minute. If you think it is just out of me and Oscar, then I think you are a bit silly. There are plenty of opportunities. Max can still win. Ferrari, I expect to get better through the season.
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'I mean, come on, we are racing Max every weekend. He has been on the podium several times, he has won races, he beat us in Imola fair and square because he was quicker. I do not know what possibly makes you think it is only between me and Oscar.'
There is a lot of attention this weekend on the flexi-wing tests. Stiffer tests on the flexibility of all front wings are being introduced this weekend, which will look at whether teams are deliberately exploiting wing flex to enhance aerodynamics. There have already been tests on the rear wings from the Chinese Grand Prix but this is the first weekend where the FIA will be investigating the front wings. Due to it taking longer to design and build new front wings, that is why the tests on them have not come in until now.
McLaren currently sit atop the constructors' standings on 319 points, well clear of Mercedes. There are 172 points between the top two in those standings. Championship leader Piastri believes the new regulations are overhyped.
'I think the biggest problem is going to be how overhyped it is, probably,' said Piastri. 'We know what is different. I think everyone will have to change, at least to an extent. I have not run the front wing but Lando has already run the front wing before, this year. We are confident that is not our magic bullet, we do not have a magic bullet, but that is not our main strength.'
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First practice begins at 12.30pm BST.
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