FP1 Madrid: George Russell (Mercedes) fastest on ‘Madring’ debut

Free practice sessions are usually more for connoisseurs. FP1 at the ‘Madring’ in Madrid, however, was something special: the first official run on a completely new circuit. On Friday afternoon, the 22 Formula 1 drivers completed the very first laps ever on the new circuit in the north-east of the Spanish capital. The circuit has only just opened, is brand new and, above all, completely unknown apart from in simulations.

The key figures: 22 corners, 5.416 kilometres in length, a layout split into two sections featuring long straights and 90-degree corners, as well as tight, slow corners in the second section. A steep approach up to Turn 7. Added to this is the record-breaking steep corner, the ‘Monumental’ (Turn 12), which, at 550 metres in length and with a 24 per cent gradient, is the longest steep corner on the F1 calendar.

On the team line-up: As was the case at Zandvoort and Monza, Max Verstappen has a different team-mate at Red Bull Racing in Madrid: Liam Lawson is standing in for Isack Hadjar (wrist), who remains sidelined through injury. Yuki Tsunoda is standing in for Lawson at Racing Bulls.

Immediately after the start of the 60-minute practice session, with an air temperature of 26.4 degrees Celsius and a track temperature of 48.0 degrees, Esteban Ocon (Haas) was the first driver out on the new circuit, followed by his team-mate Oliver Bearman. Apart from the two Alpines, which stayed in the garage for a long time, all the teams were out on the track quickly. Understandably so – after all, there was a completely new circuit to explore and all sorts of data to collect. This is incredibly important during the maiden run at the Madring, both for the drivers to get to know the track and for the teams to set up the cars.

Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) set the first proper fast lap time after nine minutes (1:36.066 mins). After 17 minutes had elapsed, Alpine also took to the track. Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, was a good tenth of a second behind Hamilton. With the exception of Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi), all drivers were on medium tyres at this stage. Hamilton improved his time to 1:34.803. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) slotted in between the Ferraris.

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Then, with 36 minutes remaining on the clock, Leclerc set the fastest time (1:34.683 mins). Audi were well behind the top teams. At the halfway point, Nico Hülkenberg was fifth. The battle for the fastest times continued to swing between Hamilton and Leclerc. At the halfway mark, Hamilton edged ahead of his team-mate by 63 thousandths of a second. Behind them were Antonelli and the Red Bull Racing drivers Lawson and Verstappen. Arvid Lindblad from Racing Bulls also joined them on soft tyres (5th).

George Russell then also made his mark on soft tyres: with a time of 1:34.145, the Mercedes driver snatched the lead, before Antonelli (also on softs) moved up to second place. A quarter of an hour before the end, Charles Leclerc made a brief excursion onto the run-off area at Turn 17; whilst this had no consequences, it did demonstrate that it is not easy to put in a clean lap.

There had been a red flag in both the Formula 2 and Formula 3 practice sessions earlier in the morning. In Formula 2, an ART Grand Prix car even went up in flames. Fortunately, no one was injured. In Formula 1, by contrast, things remained calm and orderly. Leclerc’s run-off and a bit of jostling at the Monumental were minor exceptions. An investigation was still underway regarding Alex Albon to determine whether he had returned to the track unsafely.

So, at the end of the first practice session, Mercedes were ahead of Ferrari, although the Germans were on soft tyres. Leclerc switched to softs late on, but failed to set a competitive lap time. He had set his best time (for P4) on mediums. Hamilton complained of engine problems at the end of the session. Max Verstappen finished fifth ahead of Lando Norris (McLaren).

A bleak outlook for Carlos Sainz’s home Grand Prix: in line with the trend, Williams appears to be uncompetitive in Madrid too, following FP1. The Madring ambassador finished 17th. The other local hero, Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), finished 15th.