Norris edges Verstappen in tight FP1

Lando Norris drew first blood in Formula 1’s Spanish Grand Prix weekend, taking the fastest lap in FP1 over championship leader Max Verstappen.

The Briton slotted in ahead of Verstappen prior to a red flag in the second half of the opening practice session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and longer runs ensured the Miami winner stayed on top of the order.

George Russell had set the first representative time on hard tyres, breaking into the 1m15s first in the opening Friday F1 session.

Verstappen then raised the bar with a 1m15.424s on hard tyres amid the early runs, a time which stood atop the order by the end of the first 15 minutes and remained the benchmark throughout the next quarter of the session.

This preceded a break in running among the front-guard drivers, before George Russell put mediums on to go quickest with a 1m14.753s – a time beaten by Carlos Sainz on the same compound.

Verstappen diverged from their efforts and took the soft tyre, which he pressed into service with a 1m14.252s to return to the top of the timesheets. This was subsequently dislodged by Norris’ 1m14.228s lap, the McLaren driver setting the fastest first sector on fresh softs.

The chance of further improvements was quelled by a red flag to clear a piece of debris at Turn 9; bodywork from Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin had escaped and sat upon the Campsa racing line.

Once the errant chunk of carbonfibre was disposed of, the session resumed with most focusing on higher-fuel runs on used tyres. This ensured that Norris’ time was left untouched with around 20 minutes left on the clock once the green flag was flown.

Verstappen preserved second after continuing to log soft-tyre runs before switching back to the hards, although reported that his clutch was entering into an anti-stall mode during the slower corners.

Sainz was third fastest, the quickest of those who had set times on the mediums. The Spaniard had complained early in the session that his Ferrari had no power, but was directed to make a switch to his engine mode on the steering wheel which appeared to alleviate the issue.

Russell was fourth fastest over Sergio Perez, while Oscar Piastri ensured both McLarens made it into the top six.

Lewis Hamilton was just under 0.3s shy of team-mate Russell in seventh, as Esteban Ocon, Fernando Alonso, and Alex Albon completed the top 10.

Haas reserve Ollie Bearman took Nico Hulkenberg’s seat for FP1 and ended the…