George Russell set the benchmark during Free Practice 1 at the brand-new Madring street circuit, heading a Mercedes one-two ahead of team-mate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
Russell posted a quickest time of 1m 34.077s on the soft compound tires late in the hour, finishing 0.286 seconds clear of Antonelli.
The session marked Formula 1’s official track debut in Madrid with drivers rapidly trying to find limits on a fast-evolving surface where track temperatures surpassed 50°C.
Ferrari and Red Bull in pursuit
Ferrari emerged as the closest challenger to the Silver Arrows. Charles Leclerc took third place 0.459 seconds off Russell’s pace, while Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top four.
Hamilton had led the earlier stages on medium tires before qualifying-style simulations began. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished fifth, 0.626 seconds adrift, closely followed by McLaren’s Lando Norris in sixth.
Traffic chaos and track challenges
Navigating traffic on the unfamiliar 5.414 km circuit proved to be a major hurdle throughout the session. Blind corner approaches and narrow street sections created tight bottlenecks, leading to several near-misses during flying laps.
Fernando Alonso brushed the wall at Turn 8 early on, while Yuki Tsunoda lost crucial running due to a power steering issue.
McLaren’s Oscar Pisatri also saw his FP1 cut short as mechanics investigated a loose object in his cockpit footwell.
Despite early street-circuit complications, Mercedes laid down a strong opening statement for the weekend ahead.
