Formula 1’s first session under the new constraints of TD018 did not yield the game-changing shake-up that had been expected, McLaren setting the pace ahead of Max Verstappen and Ferrari.

Lando Norris finished the session quickest of all with a 1:13.718, 0.367s up on Max Verstappen with Lewis Hamilton a further 0.011s down.

TD018 is in force, and Lando Norris is P1

On a scorching hot day in Barcelona, Formula 1’s newest – and potentially game-changing – technical directive came into play with huge interest up and down the pit lane to see which teams would be affected.

Red Bull and Ferrari confirmed they’d made changes to their front wings to comply with TD018, while it is understood McLaren and Mercedes already trailed theirs at Imola thus avoiding the FIA’s new parts declaration.

McLaren set the early pace with Lando Norris ahead of Oscar Piastri, while Victor Martins made his F1 debut with Williams, replacing Alex Albon for the session, and Ryo Hirakawa took a trip through the gravel in the Haas. He was in for Esteban Ocon.

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Liam Lawson, in a Racing Bulls sporting huge aero rakes on its front wing, had a close encounter with a Ferrari. “What the! What was that!” A few minutes later, Lewis Hamilton was baulked by Lawson’s team-mate, Isack Hadjar.

Max Verstappen and Gianpiero Lambiase were at odds with the ‘diff” with the race engineer calling for “seven”, to which Verstappen replied: “I’m not sure that’s what I want.”

Running on the hard Pirelli tyres, Norris sat P1 with a 1:15.2, putting him two-tenths up Fernando Alonso with Max Verstappen third. But swapping to the medium Pirellis, George Russell blitzed their lap times by more than half a second.

As the track temperature rose to a sweltering 49’C, Charles Leclerc ventured out of the pits on the soft tyres with Verstappen following him out. They traded purple sector times as Leclerc went quickest and then Verstappen – a 1:14.0.

Hamilton entered the fray at the top of the timesheet, only for Norris to fire in a 1:13.7 – almost four-tenths up on Verstappen’s best. The Red Bull driver returned to the pits with the team working on his RB21.

Oliver Bearman broke into the top ten in seventh place as his team-mate for FP1, Hirakawa, reported “bouncing” that was “not nice”. He was down in 17th place.

Alonso, having fallen to 13th in the soft tyre runs, told Aston Martin he didn’t want to “lose two-tenths on the straight”. He added, “something is wrong”.

Norris finished the session quickest of all with a 1:13.718, 0.367s up on Verstappen with Hamilton a further 0.011s down.

Spanish GP FP1 results

1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:13.718
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.367
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.378
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.520
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.576
6 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +0.621
7 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team +0.879
8 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.887
9 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing +0.925
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.028
11 George Russell Mercedes +1.033
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1.068
13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +1.080
14 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber +1.147
15 Carlos Sainz Williams +1.217
16 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber +1.437
17 Ryo Hirakawa Haas F1 Team +1.580
18 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +1.651
19 Victor Martins Williams +1.804
20 Franco Colapinto Alpine +1.812

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