(Motorsport-Total.com) – The battle at the top of Formula 1 is intensifying in Barcelona: On Friday (follow live in the ticker here), the top three drivers were just within 0.057 seconds. The protagonists: McLaren and Mercedes.
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The only driver from the two teams not found in the leading group was none other than the dominant championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who was almost six tenths of a second behind in his Mercedes, which put him in fifth place.
The fastest in Friday practice was world champion Lando Norris, who was able to beat George Russell’s best time by 0.009 seconds, setting a 1:15.426. His teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished third, was also less than a tenth of a second off the best time.
Ferrari seems to have even bigger homework this time: Charles Leclerc was in fourth place with a 0.373-second deficit, while Lewis Hamilton was only ninth with a 1.2-second deficit.
A similar picture at Red Bull: Max Verstappen (+0.895) finished Friday in sixth place, teammate Isack Hadjar (+1.248) rounded off the top 10. Arvid Lindblad made a good impression, finishing seventh in the Racing Bulls.
Nico Hülkenberg was just outside the top 10 on Friday: He finished eleventh and had to concede defeat to Gabriel Bortoleto (8th) – however, he also lacked experience from the first practice session, as did Norris, Hamilton, Antonelli, and Hadjar, among others.
The most important things in brief:
Result: 2nd Free Practice in Barcelona
Photos: Grand Prix of Barcelona 2026
Were there any special incidents?
Although the session was not interrupted by a major accident, there were some notable scenes. After a few minutes, Liam Lawson almost caused a red flag when his Racing Bulls rolled out on the start-finish straight – presumably due to an engine problem. However, the car was removed under VSC conditions.
Lawson was able to go out again at the end of the session but only completed eight laps. Valtteri Bottas had even fewer laps, only six. There were problems with the control electronics on his Cadillac, so he spent large parts of the session in the pits.
An investigation is still underway against Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) for crossing the white line at the pit exit, and George Russell ploughed through the gravel once in Turn 10.
Otherwise, there were the usual complaints of a lack of balance. Kimi Antonelli struggled with a long brake pedal, while Lewis Hamilton complained about too much drag with Ferrari’s new front wing.
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What do the long runs look like?
Ferrari and Mercedes made the best impression, although Leclerc completed significantly fewer laps in his stint than Mercedes – presumably, his long run, extrapolated, is worse than that of the Silver Arrows. His teammate Hamilton is not a reference here, as he fell significantly behind the Monegasque and also complained about tire wear.
Photos: F1: Grand Prix of Barcelona (Spain) 2026
McLaren, meanwhile, was on par with Mercedes over one lap, but could not keep up at all in the long run. The team experienced high tire wear and dropped off significantly at the end.
However, the tires seemed to be a problem for many – perhaps the soft compound is not an ideal choice for Sunday. It will probably come down to two stops, as was the case last year, where the tire choice was even one step harder.
What’s next at the 2026 Barcelona Grand Prix
Friday’s events (June 12) will then be analyzed from 10 PM by Kevin Scheuren and Kevin Hermann in a livestream on the Formel1.de YouTube channel, which will naturally also include a look at the long-run data from the second practice session.
Formula 1 Saturday (June 13) in Barcelona begins at 12:30 PM with the third and final free practice session. The qualifying for Sunday’s race then follows at 4 PM. Kevin Scheuren and Stefan Ehlen will report from 10 PM in the YouTube livestream and discuss all important topics regarding qualifying.
On Sunday, the race start in Barcelona is scheduled for 3 PM. At 10 PM, Kevin Scheuren and YouTuber Dave Gaming will start their Grand Prix analysis. As always, channel members can ask their questions live.
For all information on streams and TV broadcasts in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, please refer to our current overview. Details on the weather forecast can be found in our preview.
After Barcelona, there will be a short break before the next double-header with Austria and then Great Britain two weeks later. (View the 2026 race calendar here!)
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