The Latest Breaking News from Nico Hulkenberg

Teams were braced for inclement weather, with thunderstorms fast approaching Barcelona from the Pyrenees in the north.

Steiner called for a "professional" panel of stewards to be brought into Formula 1 in an angry response to a penalty Nico Hulkenberg was given at the Monaco Grand Prix

Max Verstappen and Red Bull did as they have for the rest of Formula 1 2023 so far and dominated the opening day of practice at Barcelona, quickest by a big margin over long runs and topping the times overall.

Following his victory in Monaco last weekend, Verstappen carried on where he left off by clocking the fastest times in both free practice sessions at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona on Friday.

Verstappen was fastest in both FP1 and FP2, but Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso got to within 0.17s of the championship leader in the latter.

At the start of the 60-minute session, AlphaTauri's Nyck de Vries set the first-place benchmark at 1m17.918s during the opening laps using the prototype compound construction set to become standard across Pirelli's range from the upcoming British GP, which several other runners sampled early on too.

At the start of the 60-minute session, AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries set the first-place benchmark at 1m17.918s during the opening laps using the prototype compound construction set to become standard across Pirelli’s range from the upcoming British GP, which several other runners sampled early on too.

Verstappen set his headline time halfway through FP1 as the Red Bulls proved to be on the pace straight away, and looked untouchable in a warning shot to his rivals as they hope to end the Milton Keynes squad's monopoly on race wins in 2023.

Verstappen set his headline time halfway through FP1 as the Red Bulls proved to be on the pace straight away, and looked untouchable in a warning shot to his rivals as they hope to end the Milton Keynes squad's monopoly on race wins in 2023.