Russell led the first practice in the history of the Madrid circuit, but Antonelli responded in TL2 and finished as the fastest of the day; Ferrari showed strength, while Bortoleto stayed close to the top 10 in both sessions
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Formula 1 completed its first official day of activities at Madring this Friday (11), the venue for the 2026 Spanish GP. In a day mainly marked by the learning process of the new Madrid circuit, Mercedes ended up as the main reference: George Russell led TL1 and Kimi Antonelli was the fastest in TL2, also recording the best time of the day.
Ferrari appeared as the main rival. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton showed speed from the morning session and finished the second practice immediately behind Antonelli. Max Verstappen remained close to the front runners, while Arvid Lindblad was one of Friday’s surprises, despite causing the main red flag of the day.
Gabriel Bortoleto had a quieter start to the weekend with Audi but stayed close to the top ten area: he finished TL1 in 11th and dropped to 13th in TL2, staying very close to teammate Nico Hülkenberg in both sessions.
Friday of discoveries at Madring
The first day had a component different from practically any other Friday of the season. With Madring debuting on the calendar, drivers and teams arrived at the track with no prior Formula 1 experience on the 5.414 km, 22-corner layout.
Therefore, especially at the start of TL1, the leaderboard saw constant changes. The gaps were large and times dropped as drivers found braking references, understood the limits of the new asphalt, and gained confidence.
One of the main points of attention was Turn 12, La Monumental, an inclined section of approximately 550 meters with a 24% gradient. The new asphalt also represented an unknown, although Ocon reported within the first minutes that he found a high level of grip.
Pirelli provided the C2, C3, and C4 compounds, and teams used Friday not only to seek performance in a quick lap but to start understanding a track considered demanding for the tires.
Russell puts Mercedes ahead in TL1
Ferrari was initially the main reference in the first practice.
Hamilton and Leclerc alternated at the top during the first half of the session and showed particularly strong performance using medium tires. Hamilton managed a 1:34.803 despite making a mistake, while Leclerc responded with 1:34.683.
The situation changed when Mercedes put on soft tires.
Russell moved to first position and finished TL1 with 1:34.077, while Antonelli posted 1:34.363 securing a one-two for the team.
Leclerc still improved at the end to 1:34.536 and finished third. Hamilton was fourth with 1:34.620, followed by Verstappen, Norris, Lindblad, Piastri, Hülkenberg, and Lawson.
However, Ferrari left an interesting impression: despite finishing behind the two Mercedes, their best moments came mainly with the mediums, as the team did not find a significant jump when switching to softs.
Bortoleto shows speed but encounters traffic
Bortoleto had a different program during much of TL1.
While practically the entire field started on medium tires, the Brazilian was the only one to use hards. Even with the theoretically slower compound, he managed to appear at different moments among the top ten.
When he finally got the softs, Gabriel started a very promising attempt.
The Audi driver even posted the best first sector of the session at that moment but encountered Stroll in the final section and lost considerable time in traffic.
Still, he recorded 1:35.652 and finished 11th, just 0.123 seconds behind Hülkenberg, ninth, and 0.113 behind Lawson, who closed the top 10.
Antonelli responds in TL2
Conditions became harsher during the afternoon. Ambient temperature reached 30°C and the asphalt hit 53°C, offering teams a different reference for tire behavior.
Leclerc started strong again, but Antonelli quickly took the lead.
Still in the early phase, the Italian posted 1:34.428, just 0.001 seconds ahead of Leclerc.
Russell, Hamilton, and Lindblad also appeared close.
Hamilton’s session was not entirely smooth. The seven-time champion made a mistake entering the tunnel and complained over the radio that he was struggling a lot with the front of the Ferrari.
Verstappen also faced difficulties in one of his attempts and had a muted time after running wide at Turn 17.
Norris loses almost all of TL2
McLaren faced a more serious problem with Norris.
After completing a warm-up lap, the Brit returned to the pits reporting gearbox and gear-shifting issues.
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The team tried to fix the situation, but Norris did not return in a condition to complete a flying lap.
With seven minutes remaining, McLaren confirmed his session was over. Norris finished TL2 as the only one of the 22 drivers without a recorded time.
Piastri managed to keep McLaren among the front runners, although he also made a mistake at the end and ran wide at a corner before returning to the track.
Lindblad crashes and interrupts qualifying simulations
When soft tires started to appear in the second half of TL2, times again dropped sharply.
It was precisely at this stage that the main accident of Friday occurred. Lindblad crashed at Turn 13 and caused a red flag, interrupting the quick lap simulations.
The stoppage lasted about ten minutes. When the track was released again, just over 12 minutes remained until the end and drivers formed a queue at the pit exit to make the most of every available moment.
Despite the crash, Lindblad finished in an impressive fourth position, with 1:33.890.
Antonelli closes Friday as the fastest
Antonelli then set the definitive reference of the day. The championship leader posted 1:33.662, improving by more than four tenths the time that had put Russell ahead during TL1.
Leclerc confirmed Ferrari’s competitiveness by finishing only 0.113 seconds behind. Hamilton was third, 0.149 seconds back, completing a Friday in which Ferrari remained constantly close to Mercedes.
Lindblad was fourth, followed by Russell and Verstappen. Piastri finished seventh.
One data point also showed how tight the front group was: Antonelli and Piastri, first and seventh, were separated by only 0.538 seconds. From Tsunoda, eighth, the gap to the lead already exceeded one second.
Bortoleto faces more difficulties in TL2
For Bortoleto, the second session was less positive.
Right at the start, the Brazilian reported over the radio that he was “almost hitting in every corner” and returned to the pits to make an adjustment to the front wing.
Bortoleto appeared 12th during part of the session and later completed his simulation on soft tires.
The Brazilian finished 13th, with 1:35.170, again immediately behind Hülkenberg, who was 12th with 1:35.060.
Thus, Audi ended the two sessions in the same area of the field. Hülkenberg was ninth and Bortoleto 11th in TL1; in the afternoon, the German finished 12th and Gabriel 13th.
Mercedes and Ferrari start at the front
After the first two hours of Formula 1 activity in the history of Madring, Mercedes and Ferrari emerge as the main references.
Russell put Mercedes ahead in the morning, but Antonelli responded in TL2 and ended Friday with the absolute best time. The Italian also arrives boosted by the victory in Monza and leading the World Championship.
However, Ferrari remained very close in both sessions. Leclerc finished the day only 0.113 seconds behind Antonelli and Hamilton was 0.149 back, leaving the top three separated by less than two tenths.
Verstappen has not yet led any session but stayed within the front group. Lindblad was one of the positive surprises in speed, despite the crash, while McLaren arrives on Saturday with an additional unknown after Norris practically lost all of TL2.
For Audi, the goal seems to be to find the tenths needed to consistently enter the top 10. Bortoleto was close to this area throughout the day but has not yet managed to finish a session within it.
Formula 1 returns to the track this Saturday (12) at 07:30 Brasília time for TL3. It will be the last available hour to understand Madring before qualifying and, after a Friday largely dedicated to discovering the new circuit, the third practice should offer a clearer picture of the true hierarchy of the Spanish GP.
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