Antonelli leads Spanish GP practice as Madring makes its F1 debut

Formula One championship leader Kimi Antonelli was fastest for Mercedes in free practice at Madrid’s new Spanish Grand Prix circuit on Friday with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton close behind.

Second in a first practice led by teammate George Russell, Antonelli then set the pace in a later session halted briefly by Racing Bulls’ British rookie Arvid Lindblad becoming the first F1 driver to crash at the Madring and bring out red flags.

Antonelli’s best lap of one minute and 33.662 seconds was 0.113 quicker than Leclerc’s fastest effort.

Seven – times champion Hamilton was 0.149 off the pace with Lindblad fourth despite the crash ending his session with 24 minutes to go.

The 19-year-old apologised after losing control of the rear of the car and smashing into the barriers sideways at Turn 13.

Russell, Antonelli’s closest title rival who led practice one with a time of 1:34.077, was fifth.

Leclerc and Hamilton had been third and fourth in the first session at a bright and sunny Madring, a challenging track that runs around the IFEMA exhibition centre near the capital’s Barajas airport.

Red Bull’s four-time world champion Max Verstappen was sixth with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri seventh and Racing Bulls’ stand-in Yuki Tsunoda eighth and Esteban Ocon ninth for Haas.

New Zealander Liam Lawson, standing in for injured French driver Isack Hadjar for the third race in a row, was 10th for Red Bull in both sessions.

McLaren’s reigning world champion Lando Norris missed the second session as the team changed his car’s gearbox.

After a fiery crash halted the earlier F2 practice, the opening Formula One session took place without interruptions or major incident.

Home hero Fernando Alonso brushed the wall in his Aston Martin and was 15th and 17th in the sessions respectively, while Spain’s other driver Carlos Sainz was 17th and 16th for Williams in his home city, and there were complaints from several drivers over the radio about others getting in the way.

“That’s just nasty,” exclaimed Hulkenberg after Hamilton failed to let the German through at the final corner.

Lindblad also called out Hamilton and Antonelli as “stupid” after accusing them of obstruction at the circuit’s signature ‘La Monumental’ banked turn 12.