George Russell Tops Practice at Spanish Grand Prix Weekend
George Russell landed the first blow of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, topping opening practice at Formula 1’s brand-new Madring circuit and edging Mercedes team-mate – and title rival – Kimi Antonelli.
Russell, beaten to victory by Antonelli at Monza last Sunday, answered back with a lap that set the early benchmark in Madrid. His 0.286s advantage over the championship leader came on soft tyres, a statement run on a track the field is still learning corner by corner.
Mercedes strike first, Ferrari close behind
Ferrari refused to let Mercedes stroll away with it. On the medium compound, the red cars sat within half a second of Russell’s soft-tyre pace in the opening phase, an ominous sign for the rest of the weekend as grip levels rose and the new surface began to rubber in.
Charles Leclerc, cleared to race after suffering blurred vision in the aftermath of his heavy Monza crash, gradually built his confidence. Once he bolted on the softs, he climbed to third, slotting in behind the two Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton, though, offered a curious contrast. His best time came on the mediums, leaving him off the ultimate pace yet still in the mix. The seven-time world champion’s session, however, will be remembered less for his lap time and more for the traffic storm that followed him around Madring.
Hamilton at the centre of traffic storm
The tight confines and sweeping banking of the Madring, particularly at the high-speed Turn 12, turned traffic management into a minefield. Hamilton found himself in the crosshairs of several rivals as they tried to piece together clean laps.
Arvid Lindblad was the first to vent, calling both Hamilton and Antonelli “stupid” over team radio after feeling blocked through the banked Turn 12. The complaints kept coming. Leclerc, Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg and Williams’ Carlos Sainz all had to abort flying laps after encountering Hamilton mid-corner.
Sainz’s frustration crackled over the airwaves: “Lewis letting by in the middle of Turn 12. It's always the same, it's so dangerous! Like it takes zero effort to be two metres more left. Zero effort!”
On a circuit where commitment through the banking defines the lap, those few metres mattered – and the tension around traffic offered an early glimpse of the qualifying chaos that could follow.
Clean session on a knife-edge circuit
There had been real concern that practice would be repeatedly interrupted. A two-day Formula 3 test at the Madring last month produced 19 red flags, raising fears that the unforgiving walls and evolving surface would punish the slightest mistake.
This time, the elite field kept it clean. All 22 drivers stayed out of the barriers, even as they pushed harder with every run and the track evolved rapidly.
Sky Sports F1 analyst Anthony Davidson praised the frontrunners’ approach to the unknown challenge.
“I'm really impressed with the way they approached this brand new circuit,” he said. “They made it look easy really - which they often do.”
The stopwatch backed that up. As the grip came to the track, the picture at the front sharpened: Mercedes and Ferrari look primed to fight for control of the weekend.
Verstappen lurking, Lindblad shines
Behind the headline act, Max Verstappen quietly parked his Red Bull in fifth place. The three-time world champion did not light up the timing screens, but he remained within striking distance, just ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris.
One of the standout stories of the session came from further down the order. Rookie Arvid Lindblad, despite his earlier anger over traffic, delivered an eye-catching performance to go seventh for Racing Bulls, underlining both his raw pace and the car’s potential on this new layout.
Audi also showed encouraging speed. Nico Hulkenberg took ninth, with team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto in 11th, split by Red Bull’s Liam Lawson in 10th. For a team still carving out its place in the pecking order, both cars hovering around the top 10 on a new circuit counts as a strong opening signal.
Early verdict: a genuine fight at the front
As the dust settles on the first hour of running at the Madring, one theme stands out: this does not look like a one-team weekend. Mercedes struck first, Ferrari hit back on the harder tyre, and Red Bull sit close enough to pounce once they unlock more pace.
Russell has his response to Monza on the board. Antonelli, the championship leader, has seen his team-mate draw first blood on a circuit that rewards bravery and precision in equal measure.
The track is only going to get quicker. The margins are only going to get tighter. If this opening session is any guide, the fight for pole – and perhaps the race itself – will run straight through the silver and red garages, with Verstappen waiting to spoil the script.
