George Russell topped the timesheets in the first free practice session for this weekend’s Formula 1 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, but plaudits will go to McLaren junior Leonardo Fornaroli.
The Italian, taking the place of Lando Norris, went fifth with a 1:17.216s, just two tenths off Max Verstappen in fourth, and six tenths off teammate Oscar Piastri.
Russell’s 1:16.363s saw him top the pile by two tenths from the Australian.
Verstappen was unimpressed by the handling of his Red Bull, complaining of both understeer and oversteer, as well as tyre degradation on the hot circuit.
Many eyes were on the stand-in drivers, this particular pack headed by Fornaroli, making his FP1 debut. Paul Aron, deputising for Nico Hulkenberg at Audi, was sixth, a tenth behind.
Dino Beganovic, taking the place of Lewis Hamilton, put his Ferrari eighth, with Ayumu Iwasa the next rookie in 14th, taking the RB22 occupied by Isack Hadjar.
Frederik Vesti, sitting in for championship-leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli, was 15th, followed by Colton Herta, who deputised for Sergio Perez at Cadillac.
For Herta, it was an alien task, stepping into the team’s car for the first time, ending the day just under four tenths of a second from Lance Stroll.
Luke Browning’s afternoon was a literal non-starter, the Brit’s Williams suffering from an “electrical issue” that truncated his running before it had a chance to get going.
“A disappointing end to the session for Luke and the team as we continue to investigate an electrical issue on Alex’s [Albon] FW48,” the team said.
“Luke’s open print session has been rescheduled to the Austrian Grand Prix where he will drive Carlos’ FW48 in FP1.”
READ MORE – F1 2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix – FP1 Results
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