Lando Norris fastest in opening practice for Spanish Grand Prix

Lando Norris topped the first practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz.

McLaren driver Lando Norris set the benchmark time with a 1m14.228s to fractionally beat championship runaway leader Max Verstappen in the first practice session of the Spanish Grand Prix.

Although Lando Norris looked to slightly lack pace in the opening stages of the first one-hour practice session, he ended up fastest with a late push lap on Pirelli’s soft tyres.

Conditions were sunny and warm for the opening hour of running for the weekend, with an ambient temperature of 28C and a track temperature sitting at 47C under the Spanish sun.

Ferrari junior driver Oliver Bearman made his second Friday practice appearance of the season in the Haas, stepping into Nico Hulkenberg’s car for this first session.

Several drivers complained about having poor balance in their cars, including Norris, who battled with his McLaren through the corners. Sergio Perez also complained about on-throttle understeer in his Red Bull and Charles Leclerc called the handling of his upgraded Ferrari “horrendous” during his early run.

Verstappen was the early pace setter, posting a 1’14.252 on the soft tyres, until Norris beat it. The latter part of the session saw drivers focus on higher fuel runs, which meant that Norris’s best time was not beaten over the remainder of the hour.

The McLaren driver had a brief run-in with Bearman at one point, passing the Haas driver off-track between the final two corners.

Carlos Sainz Jnr was third-fastest for Ferrari, with George Russell fourth for Mercedes ahead of Perez, Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton in the second Mercedes. Esteban Ocon was eighth, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Alexander Albon in tenth.

Alonso triggered a brief red flag with just over 20 minutes remaining when a part came off the front-left corner of his Aston Martin as he ran over the serrated kerb at the exit of turn nine.

Fortunately, the damage did not prevent him from running in the final third of the hour, with the Aston Martin driver covering 25 laps.

RB driver Yuki Tsunoda’s session was the most interrupted of any as he spent considerable time in the garage with the team working on his car. He covered the fewest laps of any 20 drivers and ended the session slowest in 20th.

Bearman completed 29 trouble-free laps in the Haas and was 19th in the session, just over two tenths slower than Kevin Magnussen.

2024 Spanish Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 Results