Max Verstappen continued where he left off in Monaco by topping the timesheets during Friday’s first practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix, with Sergio Perez making it a one-two for Red Bull.
Across a sunny first hour of action at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which no longer features a chicane in the final sector, Verstappen worked his way down to a time of 1m 14.606s on the soft compound tyre.
FP1: Verstappen comfortably leads Perez and Ocon during first practice session in Barcelona
That put him more than three quarters of a second clear of team mate Perez, while it also marked the fastest lap ever recorded in an official session at the chicane-less track, eclipsing Fernando Alonso’s pole time from 2006.
Fresh from a podium finish on the streets of Monte Carlo, Esteban Ocon placed third for Alpine, followed by AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries, team mate Pierre Gasly, home favourite Alonso in his Aston Martin and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were eighth and ninth respectively in their upgraded Ferraris, which are sporting new engine covers and sidepods, with the Mercedes of George Russell rounding out the top 10 positions.
Hit go in the video player above to catch the highlights from FP1 in Spain.
Next Up
Related Articles
F1 CEO Domenicali reflects on 'phenomenal' 2025
ExclusiveWhy Sainz feels ‘vindicated’ after his first Williams year
Winners & Losers5 Winners and 5 Losers from the 2025 season
EXPLAINED: The key terms for F1’s new-for-2026 rules
ExclusiveHow Norris made his school teachers ‘enormously proud’
Brown insists McLaren ‘won’t change the way we race’