Spanish Grand Prix – Free Practice 1: Valtteri Bottas a breath ahead of Max Verstappen

The first 20 minutes

The drivers started the session on hard tires to begin the familiarization of a circuit they know inside out. On his side, Fernando Alonso was the only one to put on soft tires. The Spanish driver is racing at home this weekend, on the track of his last F1 victory in 2013.

Criticized by many spectators, Nikita Mazepin had a disastrous start to the season and free practice session. Indeed, the Russian driver was caught off guard on the re-acceleration and sent his Haas into the gravel. Fortunately for him, he managed to get out of the gravel trap. It seems that the Haas has an engine problem, an issue that would have been the cause of this off-track excursion.

Winner in Portugal, Lewis Hamilton set the first reference time in 1:19.675 on hard tires, to beat Fernando Alonso by two tenths, equipped with the soft range of Pirelli. Max Verstappen was three tenths behind his British rival.

Two drivers are making their appearances in F1 this season, Roy Nissany replaces George Russell and Robert Kubica steps in for Kimi Räikkönen for this first Free Practice session.

At midday

Lando Norris has settled in 5th place. Author of a solid start to the season with McLaren, the Englishman dominates his experienced but new teammate Daniel Ricciardo (12th). The Australian believes it will take him five Grand Prix races to be in tune with his McLaren.

AlphaTauri is recovering from a difficult Portuguese Grand Prix, the Faenza car finished 7th and 9th, 1.2 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton’s time. Pierre Gasly outperforms Yuki Tsunoda, a rookie driver who has to bounce back this weekend.

The hard tires have been put away and drivers are starting fast laps on soft tires. Lewis Hamilton improves his time by clocking a 1:18.808 closely followed by Valtteri Bottas (+0.030). Soft tires seem to be fast for 2 laps, the surface of the Barcelona circuit is known to be extremely tough on Pirelli tires.

The last 20 minutes

Red flag, Robert Kubica is spinning in turn 10 and was unable to get back on track. He lost the rear of his Alfa Romeo when accelerating and ends up stranded in the gravel trap. Turn 10 has been extensively redesigned this year, changing from a tight left-hand hairpin to a wider, faster left turn.

The drivers were able to return to the track with only 8 minutes left on the clock, many of them had not yet managed to set a time on the red tires.

The Alpines, fast last week in Portugal, seem to struggle to find their pace. Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso classified 14th and 15th at 1.4 seconds from Valtteri Bottas (1:18.504).

If the two Ferraris are half a second from the reference time, Max Verstappen gets closer to the time of Mercedes number 77 (+0.033). Under the checkered flag, the Dutch driver slots in between Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton.

The timetable of times