3 days ago
Lando Norris Leads First Practice at Spanish Grand Prix as Teams Test Major Upgrades
McLaren's Lando Norris set the pace in Friday's opening practice session at the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.
Under scorching conditions at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the one-hour session served as a testing ground for several teams trialing new upgrades. It was also the first opportunity for teams to adapt to the FIA's latest technical directive, which required stiffer front wings.
During the first half-hour, most teams ran Pirelli's hardest C1 tyres to gather correlation data and evaluate the performance of new components against pre-event simulations.
In response to the grass fires seen during April's Japanese Grand Prix—believed to have been sparked by titanium skid blocks—teams tested heavier steel skid blocks on one car per team. The steel skids weigh approximately 750 grams more and degrade faster than their titanium counterparts.
Local favorite Fernando Alonso led early running on the hard compound, before Norris claimed the top spot. As the session progressed and teams switched to softer compounds, lap times improved significantly. Nico Hulkenberg briefly went second on softs, while Charles Leclerc topped the timesheets before being eclipsed by Verstappen and finally Norris.
Norris's best time of 1:13.718 put him over three-tenths of a second clear of Verstappen. Hamilton followed closely in third, with Leclerc just behind in fourth. Oscar Piastri rounded out the top five in the second McLaren.
Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson continued his impressive form, finishing sixth, ahead of Haas's Oliver Bearman and team-mate Isack Hadjar. Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda and Alpine's Pierre Gasly completed the top 10.
The session ran smoothly with no major incidents, though Haas stand-in Ryo Hirakawa—filling in for Esteban Ocon—took a brief detour through the gravel. The other FP1 rookie was F2 star Victor Martins, who stepped into Alex Albon's Williams for the session.
