George Russell leads Mercedes in Madrid FP1

George Russell led the first free practice session (FP1) for the Spanish Grand Prix at the new Madrid circuit. Driving for Mercedes, the Briton set a time of 1:34.077 using soft tires, securing a 1-2 finish for the team as his teammate, Kimi Antonelli, finished second, 0.286 seconds behind.

Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton followed in third and fourth, respectively. While both showed strong pace on medium tires, they encountered difficulties when switching to the soft compound. Leclerc managed to improve his time to secure third place, while Hamilton finished 0.543 seconds off the lead, hampered by track traffic.

Max Verstappen finished fifth in the session. Other notable positions in the top ten included Lando Norris, Arvid Lindblad, Oscar Piastri, Nico Hulkenberg, and Liam Lawson. The session proceeded without major incidents or red flags, though Yuki Tsunoda faced a steering issue that kept him sidelined for approximately half of the practice period.