Norris leads McLaren one-two in Barcelona practice as Antonelli’s pace clouded by traffic

McLaren’s Lando Norris topped the timesheets in Friday practice for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, finishing 0.009 seconds ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell. Norris, who has endured a difficult run of form with retirements in Canada and Monaco and a failure to start in China, led a strong McLaren showing with teammate Oscar Piastri finishing third, just 0.057 seconds off the pace.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was the third-fastest driver overall, sitting 0.373 seconds behind Norris. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli was fourth, although his headline lap time was affected by traffic during a qualifying simulation run. While Antonelli appeared quick during later race-simulation runs, direct comparisons with Russell were hindered by the teams running different tyre compounds.

Lewis Hamilton had a challenging session, finishing ninth in the second part of practice. The Ferrari driver sat out the first session to allow junior driver Dino Beganovic to take a run, and he struggled to find pace upon returning to the cockpit. Hamilton currently sits second in the championship, 66 points behind Antonelli after six races.

Mercedes’ George Russell, who is 68 points behind the championship leader, was quickest in the first session before making way for reserve driver Frederik Vesti to allow Antonelli to run. Russell described the team as being in dire need of a good weekend as they look to close the gap to the frontrunners.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished sixth, 0.895 seconds off the pace, ahead of Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto. The Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix will be commentated on by the BBC, with Powell and Pulling providing coverage.