George Russell started the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix weekend in strong shape, leading the times for Mercedes.

His team mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli was one of seven regular drivers who did not participate in the session. Their teams all used the opportunity to run an experienced driver, as they are required to by the rules twice per car over the course of the season.

Oscar Piastri was second-fastest for McLaren, just two tenths of a second slower than Russell. The other McLaren was driven by Formula 2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli, who impressively put his MCL40 fifth on his debut in an official practice session. Lando Norris will take over the car for second practice.

The two McLarens were separated by Charles Leclerc, half a second off the pace in a heavily updated Ferrari, and Max Verstappen, running a new power unit following the failure which struck him in Monaco.

Paul Aron returned to drive for Audi, as he did last year when they were known as Sauber, and put Nico Hulkenberg’s car sixth in the times. Regular driver Gabriel Bortoleto had an off-track excursion at turn eight on his way to 12th in the team’s other car.

The Racing Bulls duo ended the session inside the top 10, separated by the second Ferrari, driven by Dino Beganovic. Franco Colapinto was 10th for Alpine while Pierre Gasly reported “something is broken” on his car as he headed to the pits shortly before the session ended.

Carlos Sainz Jnr had to swap steering wheels soon after the session began but at least got further than Luke Browning did in the other Williams. He never left the garage, and his non-participation in the session means Williams will have to allocate another race weekend to run one of their junior drivers.

Colton Herta made his long-awaited first appearance in an F1 session for Cadillac and caught a major snap when he ran wide at turn eight. He ended the session last of those who set times, 1.7 seconds behind team mate Valtteri Bottas.

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2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix first practice result

P. # Driver Team Model Time Gap Laps
1 63 George Russell Mercedes W17 1’16.363 27
2 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes MCL40 1’16.566 0.203 29
3 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari SF-26 1’16.883 0.520 29
4 3 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Red Bull-Ford RB22 1’17.047 0.684 29
5 67 Leonardo Fornaroli McLaren-Mercedes MCL40 1’17.216 0.853 22
6 97 Paul Aron Audi R26 1’17.321 0.958 24
7 30 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Red Bull-Ford 03 1’17.472 1.109 24
8 38 Dino Beganovic Ferrari SF-26 1’17.778 1.415 30
9 41 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Red Bull-Ford 03 1’17.804 1.441 29
10 43 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes A526 1’17.893 1.530 28
11 87 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari VF-26 1’18.172 1.809 25
12 5 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi R26 1’18.209 1.846 28
13 55 Carlos Sainz Jnr Williams-Mercedes FW48 1’18.293 1.930 27
14 36 Ayumu Iwasa Red Bull-Red Bull-Ford RB22 1’18.298 1.935 21
15 72 Frederik Vesti Mercedes W17 1’18.365 2.002 28
16 31 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari VF-26 1’18.372 2.009 27
17 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes A526 1’18.508 2.145 23
18 77 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari MAC-26 1’18.914 2.551 23
19 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda AMR26 1’20.067 3.704 23
20 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda AMR26 1’20.318 3.955 21
21 25 Colton Herta Cadillac-Ferrari MAC-26 1’20.697 4.334 27

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2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine

Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 – when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring journalist, Keith began running the site full-time in 2010, achieving a long-held ambition to dedicate his full attention to his passion for motor racing. View all posts by Keith Collantine