Montmeló, Spain. British driver George Russell, for Mercedes, set the fastest time this Friday during the first free practice session of the Barcelona-Catalonia Grand Prix, the seventh round of the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship.
Russell recorded a lap of 1:16.363 using soft tires, beating McLaren’s Australian Oscar Piastri by 203 thousandths, while Ferrari’s Monegasque Charles Leclerc completed the top three just over half a second behind the leader.
The reigning four-time world champion, Max Verstappen, placed his Red Bull in fourth position, finishing 0.68 seconds off the session’s best time. Meanwhile, the Italian Leonardo Fornaroli, who replaced Lando Norris at McLaren for this practice, surprised by placing fifth and was the most outstanding rookie driver of the day.
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Among the Spanish representatives, Carlos Sainz finished in thirteenth position at the wheel of his Williams, while Fernando Alonso concluded nineteenth with Aston Martin in a session focused mainly on aerodynamic testing and tire evaluation.
Argentine Franco Colapinto also left a good impression by placing his Alpine in tenth position, consolidating himself within the group of the ten fastest.
The practice session featured the participation of several young drivers who took advantage of the FIA regulations to gain track experience. Among them, Fred Vesti with Mercedes, Dino Beganovic with Ferrari, Ayumu Iwasa with Red Bull, and Paul Aron with Audi stood out.
The session proceeded without significant incidents and under favorable weather conditions, with temperatures close to 29 degrees Celsius in the air and 49 degrees on the asphalt of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The activity will continue with the second free practice session, in which the teams will look to fine-tune their setups for the weekend’s qualifying and race.
