George Russell led the timesheets in the first practice session at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, outpacing Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc. The session saw seven rookies take to the track, with notable issues for home favorite Carlos Sainz and Williams reserve Luke Browning.
George Russell set the pace at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, clocking the fastest time in Free Practice 1 ahead of Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc. The session was marked by the participation of seven rookie drivers, as per F1's requirement for full-time drivers to allow new talent to take the wheel twice a season.
The session kicked off at 13:30 local time with most drivers eager to hit the track. However, local hero Carlos Sainz faced an early hiccup, stuck in the pit lane with his Williams needing a push back to the garage. He managed to rejoin the session five minutes later. Unfortunately, Williams reserve Luke Browning wasn't as lucky; an electrical problem on Alex Albon's car kept him garage-bound without turning a wheel.
Russell, driving for Mercedes, was the first to break the 1:18 barrier on medium tyres, posting a time of 1:17.414. His teammate and championship leader, Kimi Antonelli, sat out while Frederik Vesti took over his car.
The final standings showed Russell with a best lap of 1:16.363, edging out McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who was just over two-tenths slower but complained of brake vibrations—a problem McLaren promised to fix before FP2. Charles Leclerc rounded out the top three for Ferrari.
Meanwhile, Colton Herta, driving for Cadillac in place of Sergio Perez, had a minor off-track excursion at the chicane, and Charles Leclerc ran wide at Turn 10. Max Verstappen, who finished fourth, struggled with balance issues in his Red Bull, humorously admitting over the radio, "I don't know what to make of it, to be honest."
Later in the session, drivers switched to the soft compound tyres. Verstappen briefly took the top spot with a lap of 1:17.047, before Russell's decisive improvement pushed him back to fourth. Leonardo Fornaroli, driving Lando Norris' McLaren, claimed fifth place, followed by Paul Aron in Nico Hulkenberg's Audi. The top ten was completed by Liam Lawson's Racing Bulls car, Dino Beganovic in Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari, Arvid Lindblad in the second Racing Bulls entry, and Franco Colapinto for Alpine.
Outside the top ten, Ollie Bearman placed eleventh for Haas, ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto, Carlos Sainz, Ayumu Iwasa, Vesti, Esteban Ocon, and Pierre Gasly, who faced late issues with his Alpine. Valtteri Bottas in the Cadillac was eighteenth, with the Aston Martin duo of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll following. Colton Herta and Luke Browning occupied the final positions, setting the stage for a hopefully smoother FP2.