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F1 Spanish GP: Norris noses ahead of Verstappen by 0.024s in FP1

Lando Norris drew first blood in Formula 1's Spanish Grand Prix weekend, taking the fastest lap in FP1 over championship leader Max Verstappen.

The Briton slotted in ahead of Verstappen prior to a red flag in the second half of the opening practice session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and longer runs ensured the Miami winner stayed on top of the order.

George Russell had set the first representative time on hard tyres, breaking into the 1m15s first on the first Friday F1 session. Verstappen then raised the bar with a 1m15.424s on hard tyres amid the early runs, a time which stood atop the order by the end of the first 15 minutes and remained the benchmark throughout the next quarter of the session.

This preceded a break in running among the front-guard drivers, before Russell put mediums on to go quickest with a 1m14.753s, a time beaten by Carlos Sainz on the same compound.

Verstappen diverged from their efforts and took the soft tyre, which he pressed into service with a 1m14.252s to return to the top of the timesheets. This was subsequently dislodged by Lando Norris' 1m14.228s lap, the McLaren driver setting the fastest first sector on fresh softs.

The chance of further improvements was quelled by a red flag to clear a piece of debris at Turn 9; bodywork from Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin had escaped and sat upon the Campsa racing line.

Once the errant chunk of carbon fibre was disposed of, the session resumed with most focusing on higher-fuel runs on used tyres. This ensured that Norris' time was left untouched with around 20 minutes left on the clock once the green flag was flown.

Verstappen preserved second after continuing to log soft-tyre runs before switching back to the hards, although reported that his clutch was entering into an anti-stall mode during the slower corners.

Sainz was third fastest, the quickest of those who had set times on the mediums. The Spaniard had complained early in the session that his Ferrari had no power, but was directed to make a switch to his engine mode on the steering wheel which appeared to alleviate the issue.

Russell was fourth fastest over Sergio Perez, while Oscar Piastri ensured both McLarens made it into the top six.

Lewis Hamilton was just under 0.3s shy of team-mate Russell in seventh, as Esteban Ocon, Fernando Alonso, and Alex Albon completed the top 10.

Haas reserve Ollie Bearman took Nico Hulkenberg's seat for FP1 and ended the session 19th fastest, just over 0.2s shy of team-mate Kevin Magnussen.

Spanish GP - FP1 results:

   
1
 - 
4
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Driver # Chassis Engine Laps Time Interval km/h
1 United Kingdom L. Norris McLaren 4 McLaren Mercedes 27

1'14.228

  225.860
2 Netherlands M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1 Red Bull Red Bull 27

+0.024

1'14.252

0.024 225.787
3 Spain C. Sainz Ferrari 55 Ferrari Ferrari 31

+0.344

1'14.572

0.320 224.818
4 United Kingdom G. Russell Mercedes 63 Mercedes Mercedes 31

+0.386

1'14.614

0.042 224.692
5 Mexico S. Perez Red Bull Racing 11 Red Bull Red Bull 28

+0.464

1'14.692

0.078 224.457
6 Australia O. Piastri McLaren 81 McLaren Mercedes 29

+0.639

1'14.867

0.175 223.933
7 United Kingdom L. Hamilton Mercedes 44 Mercedes Mercedes 28

+0.683

1'14.911

0.044 223.801
8 France E. Ocon Alpine 31 Alpine Renault 30

+0.858

1'15.086

0.175 223.279
9 Spain F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 Aston Martin Mercedes 26

+0.994

1'15.222

0.136 222.876
10 Thailand A. Albon Williams 23 Williams Mercedes 25

+1.189

1'15.417

0.195 222.300
11 Monaco C. Leclerc Ferrari 16 Ferrari Ferrari 26

+1.206

1'15.434

0.017 222.249
12 Finland V. Bottas Sauber 77 Sauber Ferrari 24

+1.244

1'15.472

0.038 222.138
13 France P. Gasly Alpine 10 Alpine Renault 21

+1.256

1'15.484

0.012 222.102
14 Canada L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18 Aston Martin Mercedes 28

+1.284

1'15.512

0.028 222.020
15 Australia D. Ricciardo RB 3 RB Red Bull 30

+1.352

1'15.580

0.068 221.820
16 China Z. Guanyu Sauber 24 Sauber Ferrari 24

+1.388

1'15.616

0.036 221.714
17 Denmark K. Magnussen Haas F1 Team 20 Haas Ferrari 30

+1.416

1'15.644

0.028 221.632
18 United States L. Sargeant Williams 2 Williams Mercedes 25

+1.524

1'15.752

0.108 221.316
19 United Kingdom O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 50 Haas Ferrari 29

+1.637

1'15.865

0.113 220.987
20 Japan Y. Tsunoda RB 22 RB Red Bull 21

+1.688

1'15.916

0.051 220.838
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