Spanish Grand Prix: Lando Norris Leads Practice One Ahead of Max Verstappen

McLaren’s impressive start to the Spanish Grand Prix weekend has certainly turned heads, with Lando Norris narrowly outpacing Max Verstappen in a Practice One session that showcased a competitive beginning to the event. This weekend’s race has been anticipated as a crucial test for the contenders aiming to close the gap with Red Bull on a track where the championship-leading RB20 is expected to perform exceptionally. Despite this, it was McLaren who set the pace at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, albeit only just, with Norris finishing a mere 0.024s ahead of Verstappen after a stellar lap of 1:14.228.

Interestingly, while the leading pair set their best times on the theoretically quicker soft-compound tires, Ferrari and Mercedes’ drivers achieved theirs on the slower medium tires. This strategic difference added an extra layer of intrigue to the session, with Spain’s own Carlos Sainz delivering a strong performance in third place, finishing just 0.344s adrift on the slower compound for Ferrari, while George Russell secured fourth place in the first of the Mercedes.

Notably, both Sainz and Russell finished ahead of fifth-fastest Sergio Perez (Red Bull) and sixth-placed Oscar Piastri (McLaren), who, like their respective pacesetting team-mates, ran on the soft tires as well. The session also saw Lewis Hamilton, in the other Mercedes, clocking the seventh quickest time, albeit seven tenths off the ultimate pace, as he encountered a challenging moment at Turn 10 that compromised his lap time.

Further adding to the intrigue, Ferrari and Red Bull unveiled their latest round of car upgrades in the opening session, with the Italian outfit’s package featuring seven new items as they seek to recover from a disappointing and point-less Canadian GP in the previous race.

The session wasn’t without incident, as it was briefly red-flagged when a part flew off the front wing of Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin and dropped onto the track. After repairs to his car, Alonso concluded the session ninth quickest as he embarked on his 21st home Grand Prix weekend in Formula 1.

Overall, these developments set the stage for an exciting and closely contested Spanish Grand Prix weekend, with the field signaling their intent to challenge Red Bull’s supremacy and lay down a marker for the races to come.

Spanish GP Practice One Timesheet

Driver	Team	Time
1) Lando Norris	McLaren	1:14.228
2) Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+0.024
3) Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	+0.334
4) George Russell	Mercedes	+0.386
5) Sergio Perez	Red Bull	+0.464
6) Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+0.639
7) Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+0.683
8) Esteban Ocon	Alpine	+0.858
9) Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+0.994
10) Alex Albon	Williams	+1.189
11) Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+1.206
12) Valtteri Bottas	Sauber	+1.244
13) Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+1.256
14) Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+1.284
15) Daniel Ricciardo	RB	+1.352
16) Zhou Guanyu	Sauber	+1.388
17) Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+1.416
18) Logan Sargeant	Williams	+1.524
19) Oliver Bearman	Haas	+1.637
20) Yuki Tsunoda	RB	+1.688