Russell leads Piastri and Leclerc in Barcelona GP opening practice

George Russell topped the opening practice session at the Barcelona Grand Prix on Friday, posting a best lap of 1m16.363s at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to head McLaren’s Oscar Piastri by two tenths of a second.

Charles Leclerc completed the top three in a heavily upgraded Ferrari SF-26, finishing 0.520 seconds off Russell’s pace. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen slotted into fourth, while McLaren’s FP1 stand-in Leonardo Fornaroli rounded out the top five on a hot afternoon at Montmelo.

The session marks Russell’s first opportunity to respond after a difficult Monaco weekend, with Mercedes showing encouraging single-lap pace ahead of qualifying later in the weekend. Ferrari’s decision to run significant upgrades on the SF-26 will be closely watched as the data is analysed overnight.

Full results and further session analysis to follow.