What the teams said – Friday in Spain

Mercedes

Mercedes got off to a good start in Madrid, with George Russell topping the session by a comfortable margin from his team mate. Kimi Antonelli did run wide at one point after locking up, though the pecking order remained a little unknown heading into FP2. Things became clearer in the second hour of practice, with Antonelli nailing his flying lap to top the leaderboard. The Italian looks quick, confident and happy to push which bodes well for the team, while Russell aborted his flying run and thus did not set a representative time.

Kimi Antonelli - FP1: 1:34.363, P2; FP2: 1:33.662, P1

"That is our first day done on track in Madrid and it is a very cool circuit to drive around. It is a real challenge for us as drivers, with lots of high-speed corners and walls close by. You need to be very precise with your lines and good on the brakes; it is very easy to lock-up as there are a lot of places where you are braking and turning at the same time. It is a fun challenge and one that I am enjoying.

"We’ve had a good first day here but there is still lots of work to do ahead of the rest of the weekend. It is going to be difficult to look after the tyres on Sunday and overtaking is likely going to be a real challenge. That makes our single lap work tomorrow morning even more important; we will focus on that overnight but also looking to ensure we have a good race car for Sunday."

George Russell - FP1: 1:34.077, P1; FP2: 1:33.999, P5

"It was very fun driving the Madring for the first time today. It is always an enjoyable experience when you get to try out a new track; this place is particularly challenging, which is good fun as we get to grips with it.

"We started well in FP1, and the car was strong from the off. We made some set-up changes for FP2 but I’m not sure they improved the car so we may row back on them overnight. The bigger question from today is the tyre degradation. It was very high in FP1 and, although it was reduced for FP2, the long Turn 12 really puts the tyres under pressure and that will be difficult to manage on Sunday. That is something we will need to be on top of if we are to be in the fight this weekend.

"We’re looking forward to the rest of the weekend now. Overtaking on the long run in FP2 was really tough so qualifying will be very important. We looked decent on the single lap but with the smoothness of the tarmac here, it wasn’t always straightforward to get the tyres working for lap one. That is something we will work on overnight and tomorrow in FP3; hopefully we can get ourselves in the battle for pole position."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

"New circuits are always a good challenge for the engineers as the preparation work is so crucial to being able to hit the ground running. In that regard, we look to have done a solid job, and both drivers were improving steadily through FP1.

"The tyres were a bit tricky to get into the window but once we'd got them going, the grip was surprisingly high, and the drivers were able to set some decent times. It was good to see George top FP1 and Kimi top FP2 but the challenge with circuits like this is in keeping your car in the window as the track grip keeps evolving.

"Whilst we covered a lot of single lap work, the long run was cut short by the red flag in FP2. What we have seen though is that the front tyres are having a tough time and that is probably going to be the same story on Sunday. It looks tight at the front so we're going to have to find a bit more pace if we want to be in the battle for the front row tomorrow evening. Overall, the day has been encouraging though and it looks like we are as much in the fight as anyone else."

Ferrari

Ferrari got the best start of the weekend, quickest on the medium tyres as their drivers traded fastest lap times. But once the softs went on, they struggled somewhat with both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc locking up. On top of that, Hamilton twice drew the ire of his fellow drivers, with both Nice Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz complaining the Ferrari man was not getting out of the way. It was much of the same in FP2, both drivers looking quick and evenly matched, but both also struggling to keep the car on the racing line. If they can clean up their laps, they could be a match for Mercedes here.

Charles Leclerc - FP1: 1:34.536, P3; FP2: 1:33.775, P2

"It was exciting to drive on the Madrid circuit today. It’s a challenging street track, which is the type I usually enjoy and this one is no exception.

"I was quite impressed with the amount of grip there already was, considering that this is a completely new track with not much rubber on it so far. Nevertheless, I expect the track evolution to be big over the course of the weekend.

"Our target was to maximise the number of laps and gather as much data as possible today, to get to know the track and prepare for qualifying, which will likely be the key moment of the weekend because overtaking is so difficult here. I look forward to seeing what we can bring home tomorrow."

Lewis Hamilton - FP1: 1:34.620, P4; FP2: 1:33.811, P3

"It’s a fun track to drive and FP1 was a good starting point for us. As the day went on, we found it a little more difficult to get the car in the right window, so there are a few things for us to look into, particularly around the balance. It’s a new circuit for everyone and we gathered plenty of useful data today, which we’ll go through overnight. There are definitely some positives to take and we’ll work to make a step forward ahead of qualifying tomorrow."

McLaren

It was a steady start for Norris in Madrid, but Piastri had more of a struggle with something coming loose in the footwell of his car. That sent the Australian back to the pits, and he was unable to come back out, missing crucial lap time. In the second session, it was the turn of Norris to lose running, the World Champion missing nearly the entire session with a gearbox issue. That leaves him majorly playing catch up tomorrow. Piastri did get plenty of laps in, and bar one moment at Turn 7, was solidly in the top 10 albeit not quite on the pace of Ferrari and Mercedes.

Lando Norris - FP1: 1:34.947, P6; FP2: No time set, P22

"A tricky day, it was good to get the laps in this morning, where we identified a few changes we needed to make to the car, but ultimately we didn't get the chance to make any progress in FP2 due to a gearbox issue.

"Whenever you come to a new circuit, track time is very important, so we're clearly on the back foot having missed FP2. We'll work hard overnight looking at the data from FP1, from Oscar's car and the teams around us, and make sure we get as much learning as we can in FP3. Otherwise, it was good to get the first laps done here in Madrid, it's an interesting circuit and I'm looking forward to getting some more laps in ahead of Qualifying tomorrow.”

Oscar Piastri - FP1: 1:35.148, P8; FP2: 1:34.200, P7

"Overall, a solid day. Lots of learning and driving on a new track always makes things a bit tougher to get on top of. Once you settle into a rhythm it’s a pretty enjoyable one to drive but tyre management is going to be a tough one, as we have a lot of graining. I felt like we got a bit closer in FP2, which was a positive step, but we're still lacking pace, so we'll be working hard overnight to try and find more time.

"The main challenge is extracting the maximum performance from the car on a street circuit like this. Hopefully tomorrow we can find more consistency and unlock the ability to get that extra time out of the car. We’ll see what we can do.”

Mark Temple, Technical Director, Performance

"Today presented a significant challenge, particularly with the gearbox issue that cost Lando a substantial amount of track time in FP2. It's a big setback on a new and technically demanding circuit like this, where every lap is crucial for gathering data. The conditions are tough for everyone, with high temperatures and low grip, so losing that running time certainly puts us on the back foot heading into Saturday.

"Our focus tonight is on a deep dive into the data to see where we can unlock more performance. The car isn't quite where we want it to be, but we have some clear ideas on both the chassis and driver side to explore. We'll be working hard to analyse a wider variety of potential changes than usual to ensure we can give both drivers a more competitive package for Qualifying. Maximising Lando's track time in FP3 will be our absolute priority to help him recover.”

Red Bull

Both Mx Verstappen and Liam Lawson had clean opening sessions for Red Bull, with the former a solid fifth, and the New Zealander just sneaking into the top 10. It was much more of the same in FP2, Lawson again 10th although he did have to pit late on for the team to check his car over. Verstappen also had an issue, complaining about his steering, but other than that it was an okay but not spectacular opener for the team.

Max Verstappen - FP1: 1:34.703, P5; FP2: 1:34.063, P6

“Both sessions today weren’t too bad. We’re always trying to find extra pace and understand more about the tyres. It's all building confidence, especially here on a new track and I felt that we were getting up to speed lap after lap. There are always little things to tweak, work on and improve, and that’s what this evening is for. Tomorrow, we’ll look into the one-lap pace and how the tyres will perform on the long run but anything can happen, so let's hope it's a clean session and we get out of it what we need." 

Liam Lawson - FP1: 1:35.539, P10; FP2: 1:34.938, P10

“For all of us, Madring is very different and takes a lot more time to get used to compared to tracks that we’ve been to many times over the years. The track is very exciting, it’s very fast in a lot of places, and very high commitment. FP1 was all about building up. The track gets a lot faster because it’s never really been driven on as we’re doing a lot of laps, putting rubber down, and making it faster, but I think after FP2, there’s definitely more time to find. I think the main goal for over the weekend is to try and do as many laps in Practice as possible and be prepared for Qualifying. So, we probably left a little bit of margin while getting used to the track, but everything feels okay so far. We’ll try and tune it up overnight and have a stronger drive tomorrow ahead of Qualifying." 

Pierre Wache, Technical Director

“It was quite a smooth session, a normal Friday where you know you need to improve the car. In FP2 we were a little bit better than FP1. We did a lot of changes between sessions, and I think we will continue to explore some more changes ahead of FP3 as there's a lot of work to do on car set-up.  

"Mechanical grip and the ride are more challenging than what we thought, the tyre grained more than expected, and the track is more bumpy than what we thought from the Sim, so there are some challenges. There’s a lot of different types of corners here so it’s interesting from an engineering point of view, but it looks like it’ll be difficult to overtake.  

"We had some issues on Liam’s car at the end but managed to fix them. The long run was quite competitive, and our tyre management was quite good, so there’s some positives - but we know we’re not quick enough yet, so we have a lot of work to do." 

Racing Bulls

Yuki Tsunoda did not have the best openings to his weekend, with a power steering issue curtailing his running in FP1. He did not get a flying lap in on the softs and missed plenty of running as the team worked on his car. Arvid Lindblad did get a full session in and looked quick, although he was one of many left frustrated with traffic.

The rookie was fast in FP2 as well, before blotting his copybook when he lost the rear and crashed into the barriers, the first driver to bring out the red flags. That cut his session short, but he was able to walk away which was good to see. Tsunoda got a flying lap in during FP2, and wound up in the top 10 in an encouraging display.

Arvid Lindblad - FP1: 1:35.033, P7; FP2: 1:33.890, P4

"It was a positive first day for us here in Madrid. It didn’t feel like a completely new experience for me, as I’ve become quite used to learning a new track on a Friday this year. We showed good speed throughout the day and we were quick on every lap we completed in FP2. It wasn’t a nice feeling to end the session with a crash. It looked quite bad from the outside, but thankfully the impact wasn’t too heavy and I feel completely fine. There's some damage to the car, so I apologise to the team for the extra work they’ll have to do tonight. Finishing P4 on merit is a great result and puts us in a good position heading into tomorrow. I’ll focus on resetting tonight and taking the learnings from today for Qualifying."

Yuki Tsunoda - FP1: 1:36.939, P18; FP2: 1:34.758, P8

”It wasn’t the cleanest day today, but I’ve really enjoyed the new track which is super fun to drive. Confidence is key around here, so losing some track time in FP1 wasn’t ideal, plus I had a bit of traffic in FP2 which made things more difficult. Overall, I have a good feeling in the car. We’re building the pace session by session and now the focus is on pulling everything together for Qualifying tomorrow."

Alan Permane, Team Principal

"If we look beyond Arvid's crash during FP2, it has been an excellent day for the team. The car is quick and the changes we made from FP1 to FP2 really improved the pace. The track here is also very impressive and it's clear a lot of time and effort has gone into creating an interesting circuit. We have a strong package as we head into Qualifying tomorrow and feel confident aiming for Q3 with both cars."

Haas

Esteban Ocon was the first driver to get on the radio and say the track was grippier than expected, with the Frenchman looking confident to push early on. He wound up an encouraging 12th, aero upgrades seemingly making a bigger difference here than they did last time out in Monza. Ollie Bearman took slightly longer to get going, and the same was true in FP2 – clipping the walls at one point.

Ocon was the happier of the duo, and wound up in the top 10 which bodes well for the team heading into Saturday, especially with grid slots set to be very important at this street track.

Esteban Ocon – FP1: 1:35.834, P12; FP2: 1:34.867, P9

“What’s positive is that we can have a feel of the new upgrades, much more than in Monza. There are a lot more corners, more grip-limited sections, and at the moment, we don’t have the inconsistency between cars, which is quite positive, so we need to have a good look at that. We’ll keep pushing, it’s been a very good day, so we need to keep at it. The track is extremely challenging in every aspect, but it’s very good fun, and I’m having a blast out there.”

Oliver Bearman - FP1: 1:36.853, P16; FP2: 1:35.203, P14

“It was an interesting first day at the Madring, it’s a cool track and it’s fun to drive – it feels to me like a hybrid of Baku and Jeddah. FP1 was a bit challenging, but we made a few changes on the car and made a big step forward for FP2, so I’m quite happy with the progress. Now I have the feeling in the car that I had in Monza, so I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do tomorrow.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

“It was a decent Friday. It’s good that both cars are performing, because we had issues before and overall, when that happens, we can learn from both cars every single lap. We made good improvement between FP1 and FP2, where track conditions were good, although it’s a very challenging track. We tackled everything well, and tonight we need to look at tyre degradation, which everyone is suffering from – qualifying tomorrow is going to be very important. There’s some fine-tuning to do tonight in terms of tyre management and car balance, but it’s been a good start to the weekend.”

Audi

Gabriel Bortoleto was the only driver to run the hard compound tyre in FP1, with Audi splitting strategies between their cars. He finished 11th on the C2 rubber, which was a strong effort, a couple of places behind his team mate. Nico Hulkenberg did lock up at one stage, and was left very frustrated by Hamilton in terms of traffic. The team switched their drivers in FP2, with Hulkenberg running the hards and Bortoleto the mediums.

That leaves Audi as the only team with any experience of the C2 rubber heading into Saturday.

Nico Hulkenberg - FP1: 1:35.529, P9; FP2: 1:35.060, P12

"It was an interesting first day on a brand-new circuit. There was a lot to learn and plenty to explore, and it's definitely a unique track. It's incredibly fast, almost like a rollercoaster, with very little room for error, so it keeps you on your toes all the way around. We gathered plenty of information, and now it's about going through everything overnight, understanding what we've learned and seeing how we can use that to improve further."

Gabriel Bortoleto - FP1: 1:35.652, P11; FP2: 1:35.170, P13

“It’s been great to finally get a first feeling of the Madring. Overall, it’s been a positive day for us: we learned a lot throughout the two sessions, although there is still some work to do overnight to try and extract some extra pace from our car. That will be our main task tomorrow – we’ll keep working, and I am looking forward to it.”

Alpine

Alpine sent Franco Colapinto out slightly late at the start of FP1, and then brought both cars back in so their early running was slightly compromised. Once they really got going, Colapinto was the pick of the two drivers. In the second session Pierre Gasly had the edge, but neither could make it into the top 10 with the circuit not seemingly suiting their car as much as Monza. But if they can hone those set-ups, there is no reason at least one car cannot sneak into Q3 tomorrow.

Pierre Gasly - FP1: 1:36.473, P14; FP2: 1:34.959, P11

“It's always a nice challenge coming to a new circuit and seeing it at speed for the first time. I must say, I really loved the track. It's very exciting, it's high-speed and gives you a real adrenaline rush lap after lap. The walls come at you quite quickly, so you have to be very precise with lines and really commit to the corners throughout the whole lap. In terms of our day, I think it could have gone better and we have a few things we can improve. There is definitely more pace to find ahead of tomorrow, which should put us in the mix for the top ten.”

Franco Colapinto - FP1: 1:35.933, P13; FP2: 1:35.886, P15

“The Madring is certainly an exciting new track. We've spent a lot of time on the simulator preparing for it so to drive it for the first time for real today was very enjoyable. It's certainly an interesting track, very fast throughout and definitely one where you need everything to click into place. In terms of our day, Free Practice 1 was very much about learning the track and building things up step by step. As usual, in Free Practice 2, we did a bit of low fuel and high fuel to give us some ideas and data to learn from going into the rest of the weekend. We need to find some improvements and now we'll put some time in with the team and the engineers to find which direction on set-up to go.”

Steve Nielsen, Managing Director

“It was a day of learning and acclimatising to a new track and getting laps under our belt and going through the data. Of course, the drivers have spent a lot of time on the simulator, but there's nothing better than the real thing. There can be subtle differences on a new track, where the bumps are and how the car reacts or handles is important to get used to. It's a modern track with character and unique elements that make it exciting, which drivers have certainly expressed they enjoy. It's a test for the drivers and finding the limit here will reward lap time, so that's why there's been some stoppages today. We knew coming here this track would be different to last week and doesn't play to the strengths of our package like in Monza. We need to look at the data and make improvements to the car, as both drivers have similar feedback on drivability and some limitations on ride and traction.”

Williams

Williams suffered higher than expected degradation in the first session, with both the front-left and rear-left proving problematic and limiting what they could do in terms of lap time. Home favourite Carlos Sainz was the pick of the two drivers, although he cut a frustrated figure when he lost a flying lap time to traffic.

It was much of the same for the team in FP2, with Sainz again the pick of the duo as the Spaniard did his best to give the home crowds something to cheer.

Alex Albon - FP1: 1:37.591, P20; FP2: 1:36.936, P18

“It was challenging out there today; there are a lot of different style corners, so it was quite tough on the tyres. I also struggled with deployment as it felt quite different lap to lap, so I just felt like I never fully found a rhythm with the car. The SIM correlation wasn’t too far off, so that’s a positive, but we’ve got a fair bit of work to do as a team. I thought it was going to be a bit more of a qualifying weekend, but I think with the extra-long pit lane, race pace and strategy are going to be factors we need to consider.”

Carlos Sainz - FP1: 1:36.870, P17; FP2: 1:36.291, P16

“Friday done in Madrid! We've had a relatively smooth day with no issues or incidents, just a good couple of sessions where we could experiment with the setup. The track is spectacular. It's one of those tracks that gets you going when you're in the car, and it feels hectic to say the least, but I'm really enjoying it. Unfortunately, we don’t seem competitive at this circuit, but we'll do the best we can to put together a strong weekend and see what we're able to do.”

Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso sounded like he was looking forward to his second home race of the season, and he had fun out there, pushing the boundaries and winding up a credible P15 with a late flying lap. But he suffered a clutch issue when completing the practice starts at the end of the session, and that meant he missed the start of FP2 as his car was repaired.

He did manage to get out though, but gave a sarcastic thumbs up when his flying lap on the softs was wrecked by traffic. He did beat his team mate, Lance Stroll struggling for pace out there.

Fernando Alonso - FP1: 1:36.473, P15; FP2: 1:36.780, P17
Lance Stroll - FP1: 1:37.254, P19; FP2: 1:37.273, P20

Fernando Alonso says:

"It was about getting familiar with the new track today and working on some optimisation of the car setup.

"Unfortunately, we had an issue with the clutch at the end of FP1 and that left us with a slightly delayed start to FP2.

"It's going to be tricky to get it right tomorrow in Qualifying with the traffic and battery management, but we'll look to execute everything as best we can."

Pedro de la Rosa, Team Ambassador says:

"It's been an interesting first day at the Madring.

"It's a great track – challenging for both the drivers and the teams – and we collected a lot of data, which is positive.

"However, Fernando had a clutch issue at the end of FP1, which compromised the start of FP2 as he missed around 20 minutes, but the team in the garage did a great job to resolve it and minimise the time lost. That left Fernando slightly out of sync, running the Medium and Soft tyres when everyone else was doing high-fuel running, so he encountered some traffic on his final lap.

"Lance was going through the programme very well before suffering a suspected battery issue, which brought his FP2 session to a slightly early end.

"We would have liked to give both drivers more laps because, on a new street track, the more laps you do, the more confident you become when pushing to the limit, but there are still plenty of good learnings to take from today."

Cadillac

Cadillac had a clean opening hour of practice, with both drivers managing plenty of laps out there. Sergio Perez shaded his team mate, with their eyes firmly set on trying to battle with Aston Martin and Williams this weekend. The Mexican was again the faster of the two in the second session, as Valtteri Bottas struggled more with rear grip out there.

Valtteri Bottas - FP1: 1:38.818, P22; FP1: FP2: 1:37.727, P21

“A productive first day at the Madring. A new circuit for everyone and we are constantly learning. It’s unique with its tight and flowing sections which provides a good challenge. We completed two good sessions today, but we still have a lot of work to do in order to get the balance right and get the most out of the tyres. Overall though, a good first step and I look forward to debriefing so we can analyse the data with the engineers tonight.”

Sergio Perez - FP1: 1:38.150, P21; FP2: 1:37.195, P19

“It's a really cool track and a great venue. I’m so happy to be racing in Madrid and I'm confident this is going to become one of the best races in Europe. We have some work to do with the setup of the car overnight, but it was a good day overall and we were able to get some valuable data on long running.”

Pirelli

Simone Berra, Pirelli Chief Engineer

"Today was particularly important as it allowed both us and the teams to gather the first real-world data from a completely new circuit. Unfortunately, the red flag in the middle phase of the second free practice session reduced both the number and length of the long runs, limiting the amount of information available from a race perspective. We observed graining on both the front and rear left tyres, in some cases quite significant, which contributed to accelerating wear on the cars most prone to sliding. Differences between the teams are already becoming apparent in terms of who is able to manage the tyres more effectively over a stint.

"Track conditions were very good from the outset, with grip levels among the highest seen so far this season. The combination of high grip and a very smooth track surface encouraged the onset of graining, although this should ease slightly as the circuit continues to evolve, a trend that was already noticeable throughout the day. The Hard tyre represents the most important option for the race, given degradation levels higher than initially expected and the high temperatures that are forecast to persist over the coming days. The performance gap between the Medium and Soft compounds proved smaller than anticipated, averaging around half a second.

"Looking ahead to tomorrow’s qualifying session, it will be crucial to maximise the first flying lap in order to avoid the onset of thermal degradation, while carefully managing traffic, which could prove to be a decisive factor around this circuit."