George Russell Tops Opening Practice 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 restless first hour of running.

The circuit barely had time to breathe. Within 100 seconds of the green light, 20 of the 22 cars were already pounding around the fresh asphalt, drivers feeling for grip on a surface no one yet understood. Only Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto delayed their arrival, joining a field that was still tiptoeing through its first flying laps.

Those early times looked pedestrian by modern F1 standards – most in the 1m42s to 1m45s range – but the heavyweights wasted no time. Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris immediately punched into the 1m39s, ripping away the uncertainty and setting the tone for a session that never really eased up.

Hamilton lights it up, Russell answers back

As the track rubbered in, lap times fell in chunks. Hamilton, now in Ferrari red, looked completely at ease. Within eight minutes he had slashed the benchmark to 1m36.066s, then hammered it down again: 1m35.563s, then 1m34.803s. Each lap came with intent, each sector underlining that he had dialled in the Madring faster than anyone.

Charles Leclerc briefly interrupted the story. The Monegasque edged Hamilton by 0.120s, but the response was immediate. Hamilton snatched top spot back with a 1m34.620s, still on the medium tyres that most of the field had chosen for the opening half of the session. Only Gabriel Bortoleto stuck with the hards.

Then came the softs – and the Mercedes charge.

Kimi Antonelli and George Russell bolted on the red-marked tyres and went hunting for Hamilton’s medium-tyre marker. Their first waves fell just short: Antonelli missed it by 0.063s, Russell by 0.109s. The message, though, was clear. Mercedes had pace in hand.

The pressure finally told. On his third attempt on softs, Russell delivered a 1m34.145s to move to the top. He went again and shaved off a fraction more, stopping the clock at 1m34.077s to end FP1 as the fastest driver in Madring history – for now. Antonelli backed him up with a 1m34.363s, locking out a Mercedes 1-2 and underlining how quickly the team had adapted to the new layout.

Leclerc’s best, a 1m34.536s, left him third. Hamilton, notably, never improved on his medium-tyre effort and finished fourth, the only driver in the top 10 not to set his fastest lap on softs. The only other man in that camp was Yuki Tsunoda, whose session ended early with a power steering failure on his Racing Bulls car, 25 minutes from the chequered flag.

Behind the front quartet, Verstappen slotted into fifth with a 1m34.703s, followed by Norris in sixth. Arvid Lindblad produced one of the standout performances of the hour, breaking clear of the midfield in seventh, ahead of Oscar Piastri’s McLaren.

Hulkenberg led the chasing group in ninth, just behind Liam Lawson, with Bortoleto, Esteban Ocon and Colapinto all clustered in the 1m35.5s to 1m35.9s window. Pierre Gasly’s Alpine lagged slightly further back.

Alonso lifts the crowd, Cadillac struggle

The grandstands finally had their moment when Fernando Alonso appeared near the sharp end of the timing screens early on. He ultimately ended up 15th, but by Aston Martin’s current form that counted as an encouraging start. He finished ahead of one Haas, both Williams, both Cadillacs and his team-mate Lance Stroll, who was 19th.

For Cadillac, it was a bruising introduction to Madring. Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas propped up the timesheets in 21st and 22nd, both more than four seconds off Russell’s benchmark and marooned in the 1m38s.

Radio fury in La Monumental

The main flashpoint of the session came not from the timesheets but from traffic.

On a flying lap, Lindblad arrived at La Monumental – one of the circuit’s key fast sections – only to find Antonelli’s Mercedes and Hamilton’s Ferrari crawling on the racing line.

“These same two guys, man!” he snapped over team radio. “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.”

The frustration didn’t end there. Hamilton’s name surfaced repeatedly in the stewards’ notes, with further impeding complaints involving Leclerc and Hulkenberg. Carlos Sainz also voiced his displeasure at how the seven-time world champion moved aside for him at La Monumental, adding another layer of tension to an already busy first session.

By the flag, Russell stood on top of the pile, Antonelli alongside him and Ferrari and Red Bull tucked in behind. The lap times will reset as the track evolves and fuel loads change, but the tone has been set.

On a brand-new circuit, with tempers already fraying and Mercedes throwing the first punch, Madring looks ready to host a Spanish Grand Prix weekend that will not tolerate hesitation.