Photo: Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team/Jiri Krenek
Russell wins first Free Practice in Barcelona
Formula 1 George Russell Mercedes Reports Barcelona F1 2026 F1 season
The session took place under hot and sunny conditions. The majority of the drivers had medium tires and later switched on the softs. Seven teams let rookies to drive in the FP1. The most successful were Fornaroli in McLaren and Aron in Audi who finished fifth and sixth behind Piastri, Leclerc and Verstappen.
Seven teams let rookies to drive FP1: Colton Herta (Cadillac) replaced Perez, Dino Beganovic (Ferrari) replaced Hamilton, Ajumu Iwasa (Red Bull) replaced Hadjar, Leonardo Fornaroli (McLaren) replaced Norris, Frederik Vesti (Mercedes) replaced Antonelli, Paul Aron (Audi) replaced Hulkenberg and Luke Browning (Williams) replaced Albon.
Right at the beginning Carlos Sainz faced problems as his car went off in the Pit Lane but later he got on the track.
Eight minutes into the session Oscar Piastri reported on the radio that his breaks have vibration but the team responded they can’ fix it until the next practice. After four minutes George Russell topped the standings with time 1:17:414 seconds on the medium tires.
13 minutes into the session Colton Herta had a moment in Turn 8 as he went on the kerb. Later Russell improved his time on 1:17:353 seconds with Piastri, Leclerc, Lawson, Lindblad behind.
In the middle of the session there was a Yellow Flag as Gabriel Bortoleto went off the track in Turn 7. There was no damage on his car so he rejoined the grid on the track. By this time Max Verstappen on soft tires set fastest time of 1:17:047 seconds ahead of Russell, Piastri, Lindblad and Leclerc.
With 24 minutes remaining Russell topped the standings again on soft tires with time 1:16:363 seconds. By this time Browning in Williams still didn’t set any time as the team tackled electrical issues.
With 13 minutes until the end the majority of the drivers drove on soft tires except for Fornaroli, Iwasa and Beganovic who all were on mediums, Bearman had hard tires.
Six minutes before the end Pierre Gasly reported on the radio that something is broken on his car and he immediately went into the garage. Meanwhile all drivers were on the softs and Bortoleto complained again that he has no grip.
By the end of the session Russell remained on the top with Piastri, Leclerc and Verstappen behind.
FP1 results:
1st – George Russell (Mercedes)
2nd – Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – +0.203
3rd – Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – +0.520
4th – Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) – +0.684
5th – Leonardo Fornaroli (McLaren) – +0.853
6th – Paul Aron (Audi) – +0.958
7th – Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) – +1.109
8th – Dino Beganovic (Ferrari) – +1.415
9th – Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) – +1.441
10th – Franco Colapinto (Alpine) – +1.530
11th – Oliver Bearman (Haas F1 Team) – +1.809
12th – Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) – +1.846
13th – Carlos Sainz (Williams) – +1.930
14th – Ayumu Iwasa (Red Bull Racing) – +1.935
15th – Fred Vesti (Mercedes) – +2.002
16th – Esteban Ocon (Haas F1 Team) – +2.009
17th – Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – +2.145
18th – Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) – +2.551
19th – Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) – +3.704
20th – Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – +3.955
21st – Colton Herta (Cadillac) – +4.334
22nd – Luke Browning (Williams) – DNF
