George Russell sets pace in first Barcelona-Catalunya GP practice featuring seven F1 rookies
George Russell set the pace in opening practice at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
George Russell started the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix Formula 1 weekend as he means to go on by setting the pace in opening practice.
The Mercedes driver, who arrives in Barcelona 68 points adrift of team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the championship standings, topped the timesheet in a first practice session featuring seven rookies.
Russell was 0.203 seconds faster than McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, while Charles Leclerc was third-quickest and more than half a second adrift in his Ferrari, which features a total of eight upgrades.
2026 F1 Barcelona Grand Prix - Friday Practice Results
Championship leader Antonelli was among the seven drivers who sat out of FP1, with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and reigning world champion Lando Norris also watching on from the sidelines.
Max Verstappen was fourth-fastest for Red Bull, ahead of McLaren’s Leonardo Fornaroli.
The back-to-back Formula 3 and Formula 2 champion ended up as the top rookie driver in an impressive fifth, 0.853s off the pace on his F1 practice debut.
Fellow rookie Paul Aron took sixth for Audi, less than a second behind Russell, and ahead of Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Dino Beganovic, who put Hamilton’s SF-26 in seventh place with his best lap on the soft tyres.
Ferrari used Beganovic’s appearance to gather plenty of data about their latest raft of upgrades.
The second Racing Bulls belonging to F1 rookie Arvid Lindblad was ninth, ahead of Franco Colapinto, who competed the top-10 for Alpine.
Out of the remaining rookies, Ayumu Iwasa was 14th-fastest for Red Bull, ahead of Mercedes’ Fred Vesti.
American Colton Herta ended up 21st on his F1 practice debut for Cadillac, while there was disappointment for Luke Browning, who was unable to get out for Williams after an electrical issue struck his car.
The start of the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix weekend has been dominated by the news that Pierre Gasly had his podium finish from Monaco reinstated following a successful appeal from Alpine.
Gasly endured a tricky opening session in Barcelona, having experienced braking issues and a potential front suspension problem.
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