F1 2023 results: FP1 timings from Spanish Grand Prix practice
Check out the results from the first practice session in Barcelona, where Max Verstappen has led a Red Bull 1-2.
The reigning World Champion was imperious in the first practice session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, popping in a 1:14.606 on the soft compound Pirellis to wrestle away top spot from team-mate Sergio Perez.
The Mexican driver had gone quickest with his soft tyre attack lap, with a 1:15.374 his best effort before switching back to the medium compound.
Having finished on the podium last time out in Monaco, Esteban Ocon was third fastest for Alpine and less than half a tenth off the pace set by Perez.
With the track layout having changed from last year, removing the clunky final chicane, the drivers spent the hour slowly ramping up the pace through the now-high-speed final corners, while focus was also given over to testing out the new prototype Pirelli compounds.
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With Ferrari running two different configurations of SF-23, all eyes were on Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz as the Spaniard tried out the new upgrades, which includes a completely revised sidepod design.
But the session was inconclusive from an external viewpoint, with Leclerc ending up the quicker of the two as he placed seventh and a second off the pace, while also being 0.032s quicker than Sainz managed on the same compound.
Mercedes and Aston Martin also had quiet sessions, with Fernando Alonso the lead Aston down in sixth place, and George Russell in 10th as the lead Mercedes.
AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries split the Alpines, with Pierre Gasly in fifth. The French driver had a curious moment towards the end of the session as he made contact with Williams’ Logan Sargeant with the American apparently unaware of the Alpine on his inside, but the contact was inconsequential in what was otherwise a clean session.
Click here for our full FP1 session report.
2023 Spanish Grand Prix First Practice (FP1) Results:
Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:14.606
Sergio Perez Red Bull +0.768
Esteban Ocon Alpine +0.812
Nyck De Vries AlphaTauri +0.898
Pierre Gasly Alpine +0.939
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.941
Kevin Magnussen Haas +1.083
Charles Leclerc Ferrari +1.088
Carlos Sainz Ferrari +1.120
George Russell Mercedes +1.147
Lando Norris McLaren +1.177
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +1.239
Guanyu Zhou Alfa Romeo +1.300
Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +1.309
Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1.333
Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +1.372
Oscar Piastri McLaren +1.747
Nico Hulkenberg Haas +1.855
Logan Sargeant Williams +1.900
Alex Albon Williams +2.024
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