Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli topped Friday Practice for the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix.
As F1 touched down in Madrid, Spain, for their first race weekend at the new Madring Circuit, teams endured two lively opening practice sessions in which Ferrari looked quick, yet it was Mercedes who topped the timesheets with George Russell in FP1 then Andrea Kimi Antonelli in FP2.
FP1
Haas’ Esteban Ocon was the first F1 driver to roll out onto the new Madring circuit and laid 1m 44.336 as the initial benchmark time, but it was Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who topped the first set of flying laps with 1m 38.504 in the seventh minute.
Times soon tumbled as everyone stayed out for a long opening run and come the halfway mark, Leclerc sat quickest on 1m 34.683 which was set in the 25th minute.
Leclerc’s teammate, Lewis Hamilton however was his closest challenger but he went fastest just seconds past the halfway mark with 1m 34.620 before everyone commenced soft tyre qualifying simulations.
With just under 20 minutes left, Russell set 1m 34.145 then found 0.068s shortly afterwards to top the session with 1m 34.077 from Antonelli.
Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda finished fourth and 18th respectively – having been the only two drivers who set their best lap times set on the medium tyre, with Tsunoda having failed to set a soft-tyre lap time due to a power steering issue whilst Hamilton encountered traffic on his attempt.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1m 34.077 |
| 2 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.286 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.459 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.543 |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.626 |
| 6 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.870 |
| 7 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | + 0.956 |
| 8 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 1.051 |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | + 1.452 |
| 10 | Liam Lawson | Red Bull | + 1.462 |
| 11 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | + 1.575 |
| 12 | Pierre Gasly | Haas | + 1.680 |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 1.757 |
| 14 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 1.856 |
| 15 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 2.396 |
| 16 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 2.776 |
| 17 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 2.793 |
| 18 | Yuki Tsunoda | Racing Bulls | + 2.862 |
| 19 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 3.177 |
| 20 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 3.803 |
| 21 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | + 4.073 |
| 22 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | + 5.207 |
FP2
Ocon again was the first driver out on track and set 1m 37.878 as the initial benchmark but Antonelli headed everyone who set an initial lap time with 1m 34.428, whilst Alonso stayed in the garage with an issue and Norris pitted with a serious gearbox issue.
Verstappen displaced Antonelli in the 17th minute by 0.050s, but the Italian responded shortly afterwards with 1m 33.926 to head Russell by 0.099s as the opening stints ended, which saw everyone on medium tyres except for Hulkenberg who opted for the hard tyre.
Once the soft-tyre qualifying simulations began, Leclerc briefly displaced Antonelli in the 29th minute but the Italian responded a minute later with 1m 33.662 to top the timesheets.
There however was a red flag in the 36th minute after Lindblad slid out into the barriers at Turn 13 after he lost the rear end on entry to the corner, although the session was able to resume 12 minutes later.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1m 33.662 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.113 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.149 |
| 4 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | + 0.228 |
| 5 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.337 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.401 |
| 7 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.538 |
| 8 | Yuki Tsunoda | Haas | + 1.096 |
| 9 | Esteban Ocon | Red Bull | + 1.205 |
| 10 | Liam Lawson | Alpine | + 1.276 |
| 11 | Pierre Gasly | Audi | + 1.297 |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | + 1.398 |
| 13 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Haas | + 1.508 |
| 14 | Oliver Bearman | Racing Bulls | + 1.541 |
| 15 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 2.224 |
| 16 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 2.629 |
| 17 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 3.118 |
| 18 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 3.274 |
| 19 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | + 3.533 |
| 20 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 3.611 |
| 21 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | + 4.065 |
| 22 | Lando Norris | McLaren | No Time |