Norris dominates first Spanish GP practice

Lando Norris has opened the Spanish Grand Prix weekend with a comfortable advantage at the top of the time sheet in FP1.

On the warm Barcelona afternoon, with track temperatures peaking at a sizzling 122 degrees F, Norris used a fresh set of soft tires to rocket to top spot with a time of 1m14.085s, which at that moment comprised three purple sectors.

Max Verstappen was the Briton’s closest challenger but was 0.367s off the pace in a Red Bull Racing car that’s been tipped to contend for pole and victory this weekend. Verstappen’s deficit was almost entirely confined to the busy middle sector, where he lost 0.232s to the McLaren. The Dutchman subsequently returned to his garage for a lengthy spell, limiting him to just 18 laps, the fewest of any driver in the session.

Lewis Hamilton was a close match for Verstappen in his Ferrari, lapping just 0.011s further back, while teammate Charles Leclerc was 0.52s off the pace in fourth. Unlike Verstappen, the Ferrari cars were least competitive in the first sector relative to Norris, dominated by the front straight and the flat-out Turn 3.

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Oscar Piastri was mystifyingly slow in fifth despite setting his soft-tire time shortly after his session-topping teammate, his best time 0.576s off the pace. He lost 0.361s of that time in the middle of the lap, with around 0.1s lost in the first and last splits.

Liam Lawson pinched the fastest time for the final sector late in the session on his way to sixth and 0.621s off the pace for Racing Bulls. He led Haas driver Oliver Bearman and RB teammate Isack Hadjar, the two closely matched for pace.

Yuki Tsunoda was 0.925s slower than Norris and more than half a second behind teammate Verstappen to finish the session ninth ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.

George Russell was 11th and 1.033s off the pace, but the Mercedes driver was one of four not to use the soft tire, with his best lap set on the medium.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso followed in 12th and 13th. Home favorite Alonso complained in the middle of the session of losing 0.2s down the straights with an engine mode problem, and he subsequently parked up early to encourage his engineers to “check what’s going on with the car.”

Nico Hulkenberg was 14th for Sauber ahead of Williams driver Sainz, whose best time was set on mediums, and Gabriel Bortoleto.

Ryo Hirakawa made his third FP1 appearance of the year and second for Haas, taking Esteban Ocon’s car to 17th after beginning his session with an excursion through the gravel.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli was 18th ahead of Williams stand-in Victor Martins, both of whom set their fastest times on mediums.

Franco Colapinto ended the session last and 1.812s off the pace.