12:56
Lawson was on a hot lap, but came across a whole host of traffic into Turn 9. Sainz was noted for impeding, but no further action is taken. If that was qualifying, it may have been a different topic.
Herta is making his F1 practice debut
LIVE
F1 Barcelona GP LIVE: FP1 underway after Gasly's Monaco penalty overturned
Live coverage of Friday at the F1 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix
KEY MOMENTS
- Gasly reinstated to Monaco GP podium
- Antonelli targets six straight F1 victories
- Ferrari bring upgrades after Hamilton resurgence
The seventh round of the 2026 Formula 1 season takes place at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
There is perhaps no track on the F1 calendar better known to the drivers that the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with the pre-pre-season behind-closed-doors test having taken place at the Spanish venue earlier this year, and endless tests having taken place on the circuit across the years.
With long straights and several major braking zones, overtaking is certainly possible on the 4.65km layout, but the action can be somewhat muted, with few viewing the venue as a favourite.
The build-up to the weekend has been dominated by the fallout from the Monaco Grand Prix, with Alpine appealing time penalties handed to Pierre Gasly for speeding in the pit lane. While he was far from the only driver to be penalised, he did not serve the penalty during the race, meaning Alpine could use its right to review. The review was upheld, and Gasly was reinstated to third place, demoting Isack Hadjar off the podium. In the appeal decision document, it is said that evidence was provided which showed "that the distance used in calculating the F1 Official Timing (and hence the pit lane speed) was inaccurate and overestimated the speed of Car 10". The fallout from this is expected to continue, with Mercedes said to be "livid" over the decision after George Russell was similarly penalised and then further sanctioned for failing to correctly serve his penalty.
As for the on-track action, Kimi Antonelli is looking to further extend his championship lead with a sixth victory in succession. He has already equalled Lewis Hamilton's career-best winning streak, and could surpass that marker on Sunday. Highlighting the achievement, only Max Verstappen (10), Sebastian Vettel (9), Nico Roseberg (7), Michael Schumacher (7), and Alberto Ascari (7) have won more than five in a row.
Ferrari will be hoping to continue its recent strong form, notably with Hamilton, who has stood on the podium on the last two outings, while McLaren looks to bounce back from a bruising run of results, in particular for Lando Norris, who has suffered with reliability woes in Canada and Monaco.
FP1 will see numerous rookie drivers take to the track, with Fred Vesti replacing Antonelli at Mercedes, Dino Beganovic in for Hamilton at Ferrari, Leonardo Fornaroli taking Lando Norris' McLaren, Ayumu Iwasa in for Hadjar at Red Bull, Luke Browning replacing Alex Albon at Williams, Paul Aron stepping into Nico Hulkenberg;s Audi, and Colton Herta replacing Sergio Perez at Cadillac.
2026 Monaco Grand Prix Friday schedule
FP1 12:30pm BST - 1:30pm BST
FP2: 4:00pm BST - 5:00pm BST
12 Jun 2026
12:52
Vesti is the fastest of the rookie drivers so far - perhaps unsurprisingly, as he's in the Mercedes. He sits in P11, with Beganovic next up for Ferrari in P16. Iwasa hasn't shown any pace yet in P20, but given he's only completed five laps, he likely hasn't had the chance to open the taps.
12:47
Williams confirms that it's an electrical issue keeping Browning in the garage. The team expects him to get back out onto the track shortly.
12:46
The interesting thing we're seeing from the early stages in Barcelona is that the Racing Bulls cars appear to at least have the pace of the Red Bull. Both Lawson and Lindblad (P4-5) are ahead of Verstappen in P6. Iwasa has completed just five laps in the second Red Bull.
12:43
Ride them cowboy! Herta has a huge moment at Turn 8, going right across the Turn 8 kerb and likely taking chunks out of the floor. He's not holding back, as he nears 10 laps on the soft tyres.
12:41
Brake talk, and after his Monaco struggles, Leclerc is trying the Carbon Industries brake material in FP1. Having been less than complimentary of the Brembo product last time out, he has switched to match Hamilton's arrangement.
Now third, it seems to be working so far.
12:38
As Piastri reports a brake vibration, which McLaren say it can do nothing about until FP2, Russell goes fastest with a 1m17.414s. Those times will fall rapidly.
12:37
Oh no. It's bad news for the other Williams of Luke Browning. There is a lot of work going on with that car, and it does not look like this will be a quick fix.
12:36
Out comes Sainz. His car has now been fired up. A steering wheel malfunction was to blame for the problem.
12:34
Herta is immediately on the soft tyres for Cadillac. That's not normally how FP1 goes. His time is bettered by Lindblad, Ocon and now Verstappen, all on harder rubber.
12:33
This is like pre-season testing now. McLaren and Red Bull have large aero rakes on the cars.
12:33
The Williams mechanics run to collect Sainz's car, and the track is clear again.
12:32
Well, out come most of the field. Sainz is stuck in the pits with a car that won't switch on. He was at the pit exit, but is now stuck there, as a marshal waves the yellow flag next to him.
12:31
FP1 begins
Here we go. Green light, and out come the pack.
12:28
The music has played, and we're ready to get going. Plenty of upgrades on show, new drivers...here we go!
12:21
After all the mayhem of the Gasly-Alpine situation, it's almost time for FP1. Plenty of new faces, an hour of action. It's time to focus on the fun stuff.
11:58
Moving onto the FP1 admin, there will be a few alternate faces lapping in the opening session of the weekend, as teams make use of the familiarity of the layout to get one of the mandated rookie-running sessions out of the way. For ease, here is the run down of those changes.
Mercedes
OUT - Kimi Antonelli
IN - Fred Vesti
Ferrari
OUT - Lewis Hamilton
IN - Dino Beganovic
McLaren
OUT - Lando Norris
IN - Leonardo Fornaroli
Red Bull
OUT - Isack Hadjar
IN - Ayumu Iwasa
Williams
OUT - Alex Albon
IN - Luke Browning
Audi
OUT - Nico Hulkenberg
IN - Paul Aron
Cadillac
OUT - Sergio Perez
IN - Colton Herta
11:50
11:47
Alpine's Pierre Gasly reinstated to F1 Monaco GP podium after error
Without beating around the topic, the main news since the Monaco Grand Prix has surrounded Pierre Gasly and Alpine's attempt to overturn the pit lane speeding penalties, which denied the Frenchman a podium finish.
As it transpires, the volume of penalties came after the distance used to calculate the speed was "inaccurate and overestimated the speed". There will likely be a reaction from rival teams and drivers who had served their penalties in the race. A can of worms has been ripped open.
Gasly has been reinstated into third place
11:40
Good morning!
Hello and welcome to Barcelona, not for the Spanish Grand Prix, but for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix. Of course, Madrid will host the Spanish Grand Prix later this year, but expect there to be a few slip-ups on that topic as the weekend unfolds.