F1 Spanish Grand Prix Friday Practice: As it happened
Last Updated: 20 May 2022 - 17:09
Follow Friday practice for F1's Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with Crash.net's live blog.
Ferrari heads to Barcelona in search of their first F1 win at the Spanish Grand Prix since 2013.
Charles Leclerc remains top of the drivers' championship but he has seen his lead reduced significantly following back-to-back victories for reigning champion Max Verstappen.
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has been a regular fixture on the F1 calendar in recent years and Mercedes has dominated the race in recent years.
Since 2014, Mercedes have won all but one of every Spanish Grand Prix, but they have remained undefeated in qualifying since 2013.
While it's unlikely Mercedes will be able to continue that trend in 2022, they will be hopeful of an improvement in form.
Spain is often the place many teams introduce new upgrades given that it is in Europe, close to the team's factories and testing takes place at the same venue, giving them good data to compare with from February.
This has been the case with Aston Martin catching the headlines for their Red Bull-like car design.
Mercedes, Alfa Romeo and McLaren also have extensive upgrades for this weekend.
#FP1 underway at a very warm #SpanishGP (31 degrees ambient and 48 degrees on track). A mixture of hard and medium tyres with @Max33Verstappen@redbullracing leading the way in the early stages.
F1 Spanish Grand Prix Friday Practice: As it happened
Follow Friday practice for F1's Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with Crash.net's live blog.
Ferrari heads to Barcelona in search of their first F1 win at the Spanish Grand Prix since 2013.
Charles Leclerc remains top of the drivers' championship but he has seen his lead reduced significantly following back-to-back victories for reigning champion Max Verstappen.
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has been a regular fixture on the F1 calendar in recent years and Mercedes has dominated the race in recent years.
Since 2014, Mercedes have won all but one of every Spanish Grand Prix, but they have remained undefeated in qualifying since 2013.
While it's unlikely Mercedes will be able to continue that trend in 2022, they will be hopeful of an improvement in form.
Spain is often the place many teams introduce new upgrades given that it is in Europe, close to the team's factories and testing takes place at the same venue, giving them good data to compare with from February.
This has been the case with Aston Martin catching the headlines for their Red Bull-like car design.
Mercedes, Alfa Romeo and McLaren also have extensive upgrades for this weekend.
Recent F1 Spanish GP winners:
2021: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2020: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2019: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2018: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2017: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2016: Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2015: Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
2014: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2013: Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
2012: Pastor Maldonado (Williams)
2011: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
Horner has a green can of Red Bull on the pit wall - wonder why...
The order with 20 minutes gone in FP1:
Verstappen, Leclerc, Ricciardo, Gasly, Sainz, Alonso, Norris, Hamilton, Tsunoda and Stroll.
Current top 10: Verstappen, Leclerc, Gasly, Alonso, Ricciardo, Norris, Sainz, Russell, Tsunoda and Hamilton.
Leclerc takes to the top with a 1m22.820s, 0.3s ahead of Verstappen.
Verstappen leads the way with a 1m23.163s, 0.3s ahead of Leclerc. Hards for the two title contenders.
Everyone out on track except Norris and Stroll.
FP1 is underway in Barcelona.
Just five minutes until FP1 gets underway.
A few driver changes for FP1:
Kubica in for Zhou; Vips replaces Perez; de Vries in for Albon.
Hello everyone! Welcome back to Crash.net's live blog for the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix.
We have a great weekend ahead of us with every team except Haas introducing new upgrades.