George Russell Tops FP1 at Spanish Grand Prix
George Russell drew first blood at Formula 1’s newest arena, topping the opening practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix as the Madring announced itself with a frantic, almost breathless first hour of action.
On a strip of fresh asphalt barely out of the wrapper, 20 of the 22 cars were on track inside 100 seconds. Only Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto held back, the rest eager to sketch the first meaningful lines on a layout no one yet truly understands.
Hamilton lights it up early
The first flying laps were cautious, drivers feeling for grip in the 1m42s to 1m45s range. That didn’t last.
Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris were the first to lean on it, all dropping straight into the 1m39s. The pace then fell in chunks. Within eight minutes Hamilton had hacked the benchmark down to a 1m36.066s, then to 1m35.563s and 1m34.803s as he repeatedly raised the bar.
Charles Leclerc briefly interrupted the show. The Ferrari driver edged ahead by 0.120s, only for Hamilton to immediately reclaim top spot with a 1m34.620s. At that stage, the seven-time champion looked comfortably the reference around Madring.
Most of the field spent that opening phase on medium tyres, Gabriel Bortoleto the lone outlier on hards. The real story, though, was Hamilton’s rhythm: lap after lap, a driver clearly at ease on a track that was catching others out.
Mercedes strike when the softs arrive
The switch to soft tyres changed the complexion of the session.
Kimi Antonelli and George Russell were among the first to bolt on the red-marked rubber. Their initial attempts, two apiece, fell just short of Hamilton’s medium-tyre time – Antonelli by 0.063s, Russell by 0.109s. The message was clear: Hamilton’s early work had real bite.
Then Russell found another gear.
On his third push lap on softs he punched in a 1m34.145s to finally dislodge his team-mate’s Ferrari from the top. He wasn’t done. The Briton trimmed that to a 1m34.077s, the lap that would stand as the session’s best and secure Mercedes the honour of topping Madring’s first official F1 session.
Antonelli backed that up with a 1m34.363s to make it a Mercedes 1-2, an eye-catching statement from the rookie and from a team that has been searching for consistent front-running pace.
Leclerc slotted into third, 0.459s off Russell, while Hamilton’s earlier medium-shod effort held up for fourth. He finished as the only driver, apart from the sidelined Yuki Tsunoda, whose best time did not come on softs.
Verstappen ended the hour in fifth for Red Bull, ahead of Norris’s McLaren in sixth. Arvid Lindblad produced one of the standout midfield performances, his 1m35.033s good enough for seventh and clear of Oscar Piastri in eighth.
Behind them, Hulkenberg led a tightly packed group. Liam Lawson, Bortoleto, Esteban Ocon and Colapinto all lined up in the 1m35.5s to 1m35.9s window, with Pierre Gasly a further three tenths back.
Home favourite Fernando Alonso could do no better than 15th, though in the context of Aston Martin’s recent form that represented a modest step in the right direction. He headed Oliver Bearman, Carlos Sainz, Tsunoda, Lance Stroll, Alex Albon and the struggling Cadillacs of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas.
Lindblad fumes as traffic chaos erupts
The most animated moment of the session came not on the timesheets but on the radio.
Lindblad, on a flying lap, arrived at La Monumental to find both Antonelli’s Mercedes and Hamilton’s Ferrari crawling on the racing line. The rookie exploded over team radio: “These same two guys, man! Like, I don’t know what they’re doing, they’re just stupid, right in the fast corner! It’s actually very dangerous, it’s been twice now.”
That wasn’t the end of the traffic complaints. Hamilton later found himself in the middle of more impeding flashpoints, this time affecting Leclerc and Hulkenberg, while Carlos Sainz voiced his own frustration at how the seven-time champion let him through at the same high-speed section.
Tsunoda, meanwhile, didn’t even get the chance to join the late-session sprint. A power steering issue on his Racing Bulls ruled him out with 25 minutes to go, freezing his best lap on medium tyres and leaving him 18th.
Madring shows its teeth
For a first outing, Madring delivered exactly what the sport wanted: evolving grip, a rapidly dropping track record, and a layout that punishes hesitation in its fast sweeps.
Russell leaves FP1 with his name at the top and Mercedes with a statement 1-2, but the headline times sit on a surface that will only get quicker. Hamilton’s medium-tyre benchmark, Verstappen lurking in fifth, McLaren in the mix, Ferrari with both cars in the top four – the pieces are already moving.
The new circuit has made its opening move. Qualifying pace, long-run form, and how teams tame La Monumental’s traffic minefield will decide who really masters it when it matters.
