Lando Norris carried his Monaco momentum into Barcelona by topping the timesheets in Friday’s first practice session for the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix, clocking a best lap of 1:13.718. He led Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by 0.367s, with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton just behind in third.
The session began in warm conditions with F2’s Victor Martins making his F1 weekend debut for Williams, replacing Alex Albon. Early incidents included Haas reserve Ryo Hirakawa running off into the gravel and Liam Lawson expressing frustration over a slow-moving Charles Leclerc.
Teams ran various tyre strategies as they adapted to a new Technical Directive on front wing load tests. While Mercedes’ George Russell briefly led on mediums, and Nico Hulkenberg was first to try softs, it was Verstappen who went fastest before Norris retook the top spot.
The final top 10 featured several standouts: Oscar Piastri (P5), Lawson (P6), Ollie Bearman (P7), Isack Hadjar (P8), Yuki Tsunoda (P9), and Pierre Gasly (P10). Championship leader Piastri and local favourite Fernando Alonso (P13) both had mixed outings, with Alonso reporting issues on his Aston Martin.
