The opening practice for the Spanish Grand Prix took place on a very hot day in Barcelona, with track temperatures reaching almost 50 degrees Celsius. But it wasn’t just the heat grabbing attention as it was also the first session where Formula 1’s new front wing rules officially came into effect. Teams, fans, and the FIA were all watching closely to see who would be affected.

Red Bull and Ferrari confirmed they had changed their front wings to meet the new rules, while McLaren and Mercedes had already tested their updates at the previous race in Imola, meaning they didn’t need to declare new parts this weekend.

McLaren made a strong start, with Lando Norris leading the way early on ahead of his team-mate Oscar Piastri. Meanwhile, two new faces were on track. Victor Martins made his Formula 1 debut with Williams, standing in for Alex Albon, and Ryo Hirakawa replaced Esteban Ocon at Haas. Hirakawa had a tough time, sliding into the gravel at one point and later reporting “bouncing” issues.

Liam Lawson, who was testing large aero rakes on his front wing, had a near-miss with a Ferrari. His team-mate Isack Hadjar later held up Lewis Hamilton, prompting an angry reaction on the radio.

Max Verstappen was also heard having a bit of a disagreement with his race engineer over the car’s differential settings. He wasn’t sure the changes suggested would help.

Norris set the early benchmark on hard tyres, but George Russell impressed on mediums by going over half a second quicker. Then came a lot of of fast laps on soft tyres. Charles Leclerc and Verstappen traded fastest times, with Verstappen setting a 1:14.0 lap. But Hamilton and Norris soon beat that, and Norris eventually finished the session fastest. Verstappen ended up second, three tenths behind, and Hamilton was just one hundredth of a second further back in third.

The rest of the top ten saw Charles Leclerc in fourth place for Ferrari, followed by Oscar Piastri in fifth for McLaren. Liam Lawson took sixth for Racing Bulls. Oliver Bearman put in a solid drive to finish seventh for Haas, ahead of Isack Hadjar in eighth, also for Racing Bulls. Yuki Tsunoda took ninth place for Red Bull, and Pierre Gasly rounded out the top ten in his Alpine.