Mercedes Marks Strong Start as Hamilton Leads Ferrari in Madring

The Madring’s first taste of Formula 1 ran clean and uninterrupted, and Mercedes wasted no time in staking their claim on the new Spanish stage.

George Russell topped the opening practice hour with a 1:34.145 on the soft tyre, 0.286 seconds clear of championship leader and team-mate Kimi Antonelli. No red flags, no stoppages, just a steady ratcheting-up of pace on a circuit that is already asking serious questions of car and driver.

Behind the silver one-two, Ferrari and Red Bull watched, measured… and occasionally got in each other’s way.

Hamilton vs Leclerc: tension buried, pace unleashed

Lewis Hamilton spent most of the session as the reference, his 1:34.620 on the medium C3s standing as the benchmark while others bolted on the softer C4s and chased the limits. The seven-time champion, now in Ferrari red and third in the title race, looked sharp and aggressive, even brushing perilously close to the wall at one stage.

Charles Leclerc, still picking himself up from a huge Monza crash and the opening-lap clash with Hamilton there, ran him close. On mediums, the Monegasque briefly went quickest with a 1:38.504 before being shuffled back as the track evolved. Later, on a hot lap from second on the timesheets, he suddenly found a scarlet car crawling ahead of him.

It was Hamilton.

Any flashpoint? Not this time. Leclerc’s radio stayed cool: “I don’t think Lewis knew I was coming.” At Ferrari, the fireworks can wait.

By the flag, Hamilton headed Leclerc by just 0.105 seconds on the timesheets in one phase of running, a neat encapsulation of a partnership that has already survived its first major test. Hamilton admitted earlier they had sat down “face to face” after Monza to clear the air. On track at the Madring, the only argument was over who could go faster.

Antonelli shadowing, Russell striking

Antonelli arrived in Madrid on a high, still buzzing from that Monza masterpiece where he surged from 19th on the grid to victory. He also arrived with a 66-point cushion over Russell in the standings.

On this fresh strip of Spanish tarmac, the Italian looked human again.

A lock-up at Turn 13 served as a reminder that the Madring will punish even the sharpest. He recovered, completed the lap and slotted into second behind Hamilton at one point, 0.345 seconds adrift of the Ferrari.

Russell, though, timed his attack perfectly. On the softs, he reset, attacked the fast-flowing layout and nailed a 1:34.145 to end FP1 on top. Earlier in the hour, he had already set the pace on softer rubber while Hamilton, if indeed on mediums as suggested, needed over half a second to overhaul him.

Russell was gracious in defeat at Monza, but the question now hangs over this weekend: can he really chip away at that 66-point deficit and turn this into a title fight? On Friday morning in Madrid, he looked in the mood to try.

Verstappen, Lawson and a restless Red Bull camp

Max Verstappen’s Red Bull never quite lit up the timing screens, the four-time world champion hovering around the top five with fifth mentioned in one phase of the session. His new team-mate for this run of races, Liam Lawson, once again deputising for the injured Isack Hadjar, delivered solid work.

Lawson, purple in the middle sector on one push lap, crossed the line only to remain fourth, 0.919 seconds off Hamilton’s best on soft tyres. Respectable, but not yet a headline.

Hadjar, still nursing a fractured wrist from the summer break, has been visible in the paddock but remains on the sidelines. Lawson continues in the Red Bull, while Yuki Tsunoda once again swaps over to Racing Bulls in place of the New Zealander.

For Tsunoda, FP1 ended early. After backing out of his first hot lap on softs, he radioed an issue and was called back to the garage. His session was “done and dusted” as Racing Bulls opted for a closer look at the car.

Hulkenberg fumes, Piastri puzzled

Down the order, tempers and curiosities flared.

Nico Hulkenberg, ninth at one stage and finding time in the Audi on softs with a 1:35.533, found Hamilton parked in the wrong place at the wrong time on a flying lap. The German did not hide his irritation, snapping to the Audi pit wall: “I mean, that’s nasty.”

Oscar Piastri, running sixth with around 14 minutes left, suddenly reported something far stranger than traffic. “I have something hanging in the cockpit around my feet. It’s banging my feet,” the McLaren driver radioed. The response was instant: come in now. Whatever was loose in that car, it needed attention before it became more than just an annoyance.

At Racing Bulls, rookie Arvid Lindblad continued his education. On mediums, he climbed to 12th and then complained of being held up, telling the team that two drivers were running wide in a fast corner. The culprits? Hamilton and Antonelli, two title protagonists still feeling out the new circuit’s limits.

Alpine’s quiet graft and Gasly’s lingering glow

Alpine kept a lower profile, but the storylines were still there. Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto completed only a handful of laps early on, yet the Frenchman’s name still carried the glow of Monza, where he claimed a remarkable maiden F1 pole six years after his first win at the same venue.

Both Alpine drivers finished in the points in Italy, and while FP1 in Madrid did not bring any fireworks, the team will be quietly satisfied with a clean, data-rich session on unknown asphalt.

The Madring bites gently… for now

For a brand-new Grand Prix venue, the Madring behaved itself. No red flags, no heavy crashes, no early repair bills. Team principals up and down the pit lane had made their wishes clear: “please don’t bin the car.” The drivers listened.

Esteban Ocon, now at Haas, reported “quite high” grip as he circulated on the C3 mediums. His team-mate Oliver Bearman and local favourite Carlos Sainz also headed out early on the yellow-marked tyres, while Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto opted for the harder C2s to open his account, just as he did with solid if unspectacular form at Monza where he finished just outside the points.

Pirelli has armed the field with C2 (hard), C3 (medium) and C4 (soft) for the Madring’s debut. With no race history to lean on, everyone is learning on the fly how the smooth tarmac chews through rubber. The tyre supplier has already ranked the track among the top five most demanding on the calendar, with lateral loads comparable to Barcelona and Silverstone.

Then there is La Monumental.

The 550-metre banked corner, with its 24% gradient, generates the highest vertical tyre load of the entire season. Russell “successfully navigated” it on his first push lap, stopping the clock at 1:45.035 as an opening marker, but the real test will come when 20 cars attack it in anger on Sunday.

For now, the chequered flag on FP1 leaves one clear impression: Mercedes have arrived in Madrid with intent, Ferrari are close enough to smell an opportunity, and the new circuit is only just starting to show its teeth.