Kimi Antonelli topped the timesheets during Friday’s practice session at the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, steering his Mercedes to the fastest lap. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton followed closely, both finishing just over 0.1 seconds behind the Italian driver.
Practice Session Developments
- Arvid Lindblad, the 19-year-old rookie, crashed his Racing Bulls shortly after setting the fourth-fastest time, finishing 0.228 seconds behind Antonelli.
- The incident occurred at Turn 13, where Lindblad lost control and slid sideways into the wall, causing damage to his front and rear suspension and breaking his front wing.
- George Russell, Antonelli’s Mercedes team-mate who trails him by 66 points in the championship, placed fifth ahead of Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri.
- Lando Norris failed to record a time due to a gearbox issue in his McLaren.
Lindblad’s incident was the only one of the day in Formula 1 running, but it did back up some remarks from Russell before the first session that the new Madrid track had “less margin than Monaco, purely because of the speed”.
