Russell leads Mercedes 1-2 as Hamilton irks rivals in FP1 at the Madring

Mercedes turned the tables on Ferrari as the Formula 1 drivers swapped from the medium Pirelli tyres to the softs, to clinch the 1-2 in the very first practice session at the Madring.

While Ferrari had an advantage over its rivals on the medium tyres, neither Lewis Hamilton nor Charles Leclerc could put in a clean lap on the softs. That opened the door for Mercedes, with Russell topping the timesheet by three-tenths ahead of his teammate.

George Russell leads Mercedes 1-2 in Madring FP1

The Formula 1 drivers geared up for their first laps at the Madring, aware that there had been red flags in both the F3 and F2 sessions as the drivers got to know the brand-new track with its 22 corners, including the banked La Monumental, blind apexes and tight pit lane. The track temperature was up to 48°C, turning an already slippery new surface into an ice rink.

Esteban Ocon in the Alpine was the first driver out, followed by almost the entire field except Nico Hülkenberg and Franco Colapinto. Sergio Perez was back in the pits at the end of his installation lap for a new steering wheel.

Ocon got the timesheet rolling with a 1:44.336, but that was shattered as others set their lap times. Charles Leclerc dropped the benchmark time to a 1:38.504.

As track evolution and the drivers’ knowledge of the circuit improved, so too did the lap times. Lewis Hamilton took a chunk off Leclerc’s time with a 1:36.066. Lando Norris improved to second place ahead of Kimi Antonelli, but he lost his time for a track limits violation at Turn 15.

Ten minutes into the session, the benchmark had fallen from a 1:44 to a 1:36, and three drivers – Hulkenberg, Colapinto and Pierre Gasly – had yet to set a lap time.

F1 2026: The season’s winners and losers

The results of the F1 2026 championship

The F1 2026 Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings

Hamilton upped his pace to a 1:35.563, with Max Verstappen up to second ahead of Norris, before Leclerc joined his teammate at the top of the timesheets. Leclerc was a tenth off Hamilton’s pace – make that eight-tenths as Hamilton improved to a 1:34.803.

The Briton’s P1 lap highlighted the tricky nature of the Madring with Hamilton twice coming close to clipping the wall. 11 drivers in 10 minutes also had lap times deleted for exceeding the track limits.

Leclerc edged ahead of Hamilton with a 1:34.683, with the 22-driver field separated by seven seconds with Valtteri Bottas down in P22.

Arvid Lindblad was annoyed with Hamilton and Antonelli, who were running two abreast and blocking him on his flying lap, forcing him to squeeze through. “These same two guys, man!” he complained to Racing Bulls. “I don’t know what they’re doing. They’re just stupid, right in the fast corner! It’s actually very dangerous, it’s been twice now.”

Ferrari ran 1-2 at the halfway mark, with Hamilton reclaiming P1 from Leclerc with a 1:34.620. Antonelli was third, half a second behind the teammates.

The track temperature was up to 50°C when Liam Lawson in the Red Bull for the third race running left the Red Bull garage on the soft Pirellis. He went fastest in the middle sector but only took three-tenths off his previous test as he struggled with traction out of Turn 20.

“I have an issue with this power steering, nearly crashed into the…,” Yuki Tsunoda told Racing Bulls as he returned to the team’s garage.

Russell swapped to the soft tyres and pulled half a second clear of the Ferrari teammates. Antonelli closed the gap to match Leclerc’s time but remained P4 before improving to second, 0.286s down on Russell.

Oscar Piastri reported that he had “something hanging” around his feet in the cockpit of his McLaren. He was told to box. Piastri was out of the car as McLaren looked into his MCL40’s footwell.

The Ferrari drivers switched to the soft tyres but both Leclerc and Hamilton had locks up that forced them to abort their laps. The Ferrari teammates struggled on the soft tyres, either locking up or hitting the kerbs.

Hulkenberg was not happy with Hamilton at the final corner, as the Ferrari driver set himself up to start a lap, telling Audi: “That’s just nasty.”

Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had a hair-raising moment through La Monumental as Hamilton let Sainz by but didn’t give him enough room. The two came too close for Sainz’s comfort.

The session ended with Russell quickest of all by 0.286s with Leclerc third fastest ahead of Hamilton.

Spanish Grand Prix: FP1 top ten

1 George Russell Mercedes 1:34.077

2 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:34.363
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:34.536
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:34.620
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:34.703
6 Lando Norris McLaren 1:34.947
7 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls 1:35.033
8 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:35.148
9 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:35.529
10 Liam Lawson Red Bull 1:35.539

The full results from FP1 at the Spanish Grand Prix

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!

Read Next: Madring safety in the spotlight ahead of F1 debut