Spanish Grand Prix – Free Practice 1: Lando Norris in fine form

A shake-up in the hierarchy?

This is probably one of the most important free practice sessions at the start of the season. Indeed, it is in Spain that the new FIA technical directive concerning the flexibility of front wings has been introduced. The McLaren team has likely been the team that benefited the most from wing flexibility until now. Should we expect a shift in the hierarchy? Probably not. In any case, the 10 teams on the grid have three one-hour sessions to better understand the new rigidity of the front wings.

On the other hand, what might help McLaren’s rivals in Spain is Pirelli’s decision to opt for its hardest range of tires. The great strength of the MCL39 being its management of tire degradation, the C1, C2, and C3 compounds will therefore lessen the superiority of the Woking structure.

The rookies are out

This year, teams are required to run rookies during four practice sessions instead of two in previous seasons. By chance, Victor Martins and Ryo Hirakawa, two former members of the Alpine academy, are taking advantage of this setup in Spain and find themselves together on the track during this first practice session of the weekend. The Japanese driver had driven for the French team in Suzuka before announcing his departure from the team to join Haas. Esteban Ocon must have winced slightly when Ryo Hirakawa took the Frenchman’s car into the gravel between turns 10 and 11 after just 7 minutes of the session. Fortunately, the Toyota driver managed to extract his car from the off-track area without difficulty.

This Spanish Grand Prix will likely be the ideal opportunity for Fernando Alonso to finally score his first points in 2025. Aston Martin brought a package of significant improvements to Imola that could have paid off if a bit of bad luck with pit stops hadn’t nipped a promising race in the bud. Then, in Monaco, an engine problem dashed the Asturian’s chances of finally getting on the scoreboard. Aston Martin is bringing a new front wing to Spain. Unfortunately for the native of Asturias, his weekend is not off to the best start. With 5 minutes left in the session, he was forced to bring his car back to the garage due to an engine problem.

Lando Norris is comfortable with the MCL39.

Once all the drivers switched to the weekend’s softest tires, Lando Norris proved that the McLaren was the fastest machine on the grid with a time placing him 3 tenths ahead of the rest of the competition. It will be interesting to follow Red Bull this weekend. Barcelona is a circuit that Max Verstappen cherishes. It’s where he won his first Formula 1 victory. In total, the Dutchman has triumphed there four times. Being a track that teams know well, it’s likely that the engineers of the four-time world champion will manage to get closer to McLaren’s performance as the weekend progresses.

After his Monaco triumph, Lando Norris confirms his good form during these FP1 by taking the best time. Max Verstappen displayed a good race pace with the softs. He is closely followed by Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari. Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri complete the top 5, a bit further back.