What happened in F1's first-ever Madring practice session

Key Points:

• Mercedes dominated the FP1 session for the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix at the Madring street circuit, with George Russell leading teammate Kimi Antonelli by 0.286 seconds, both setting their fastest laps on soft tyres late in the 60-minute session.
• The session was largely incident-free, featuring only a few yellow flags for spins and off-track excursions, but saw numerous lap time deletions due to 12 violations at Turn 5 and nine at Turn 17.
• Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was third fastest on soft tyres, using an older-spec power unit after crashing with the upgraded engine at Monza, while Lewis Hamilton struggled with a lock-up on soft tyres and set his best time on mediums.
• Midfield battles saw Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri of McLaren in sixth and eighth respectively, separated by Racing Bulls' Arvid Lindblad, with Audi's Nico Hulkenberg and Red Bull's Liam Lawson completing the top 10.
• Notable midfield and backmarker performances included Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso in 15th, Carlos Sainz 17th on home soil, and Williams drivers Alex Albon and others trailing near the bottom, with Cadillac cars occupying the last positions.