Mercedes’ George Russell led his team-mate Kimi Antonelli in a largely incident-free FP1 session for the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix at the Madring.
Russell set the benchmark of 1m34.077s with Antonelli 0.286s off the pace. The pair set their respective fastest laps on soft tyres towards the end of the 60-minute session – the first for F1 at the new street circuit on the outskirts of Spanish capital Madrid.
Barring a few yellow flags for spins and off-track excursions, the session was trouble-free with no red flags waved.
Numerous drivers had their times deleted with 12 violations at Turn 5 and nine at Turn 17. Graining was also visible on the medium and soft tyres after just a handful of laps, with the spectacular-looking banked Turn 12 (La Monumental) putting considerable load through them.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was third on soft tyres, 0.459s off the pace, while team-mate Lewis Hamilton locked up at Turn 17 on a soft-tyred flying lap, so his fastest lap of the session was a 1m34.620s set on mediums. Leclerc is believed to be using the older-spec Ferrari power unit from Zandvoort after crashing out at Monza with the upgraded Ferrari engine.
Lando Norris was two tenths off Max Verstappen in sixth, with the McLaren driver’s fastest time coming early into a soft-tyre stint, his team-mate Oscar Piastri another two tenths off in eighth.
Between the McLarens was Racing Bulls’s Arvid Lindblad, around a second off the pace.
Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg was 1.452s off in ninth, and Red Bull’s stand-in Liam Lawson rounded out the top 10.
The field was split by 4.741s with Cadillac rounding out the standings – Valtteri Bottas seven-tenths behind team-mate Sergio Perez, who in turn was half a second back from the next-slowest team.
Aston Martin’s home driver Fernando Alonso was 2.396s off the pace in 15th but almost eight tenths faster than team-mate Lance Stroll, 19th. Carlos Sainz began his home weekend in 17th, 2.793s off the pace, while Williams team-mate Alex Albon was seven tenths slower and 20th ahead of only the Cadillacs.
George Russell (Mercedes) 1m34.077sFP1 times
Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.286s
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.459s
Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.543s
Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.626s
Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.870s
Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +0.956s
Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +1.071s
Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) +1.452s
Liam Lawson (Red Bull) +1.462s
Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +1.575s
Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1.680s
Esteban Ocon (Haas) +1.757s
Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +1.856s
Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +2.396s
Ollie Bearman (Haas) +2.680s
Carlos Sainz (Williams) +2.793s
Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) +2.862s
Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +3.177s
Alex Albon (Williams) +3.514s
Sergio Perez (Cadillac) +4.073s
Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) +4.741s
