Barcelona offers teams an ideal opportunity to see young drivers in action during the first free practice session. The circuit is also extensively used for testing, meaning teams already have a vast amount of data to rely on.
Seven teams therefore elected to run young drivers in the opening hour, as required by the regulations at least four times a year during FP1. Taking to the track were Fred Vesti (Mercedes), Dino Beganovic (Ferrari), Leonardo Fornaroli (McLaren), Ayumu Iwasa (Red Bull), Luke Browning (Williams), Paul Aron (Audi) and Colton Herta (Cadillac).
From a tyre perspective, all three compounds available for the weekend were used across both sessions. The Hard C2 was only run by the Haas drivers in FP1, while Max Verstappen was the sole driver to use it in FP2. In the latter part of the second session, teams focused primarily on long runs, predominantly using the Medium C3 compound.
The fastest time in FP2 was set by Lando Norris with a 1:15.426 on Soft C4. Ambient temperatures reached 29°C, with track temperatures consequently climbing to 50°C. In FP1, the quickest time was recorded by George Russell with a 1:16.363, also on the C4.
Before on-track activities got underway, the circuit’s press conference room hosted the presentation of the book “A Stir of the Soul: Pirelli’s 500 GPs in the F1 World Championship”, curated by Fondazione Pirelli and published by Marsilio Arte. The volume celebrates Pirelli’s 500 Grands Prix in the World Championship through a rich narrative of images and texts, featuring materials sourced from the Pirelli Historical Archive.
The event brought together Marco Tronchetti Provera, Pirelli Executive Vice President and Chairman of Fondazione Pirelli; Stefano Domenicali, President & CEO of Formula 1®; H. E. Mohammed Ben Sulayem, FIA President, who contributed via video; Jean Todt, United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety; and Nick Heidfeld, former Formula 1 driver.
SIMONE BERRA – PIRELLI CHIEF ENGINEER
“Most teams chose not to use the Hard compound today, meaning they will retain two sets to take into the race. The few who did run it reported greater sliding compared to the two softer compounds, resulting in surface overheating that brings it closer, in terms of degradation, to the Medium and Soft.
“Overall, all compounds are showing high levels of thermal degradation, particularly on the front and rear left, due to the abrasive surface of the asphalt, second only to Bahrain, the characteristics of the circuit and the high track temperatures, which are set to increase further over the coming days. In performance runs, drivers struggled to cool the tyres sufficiently to attempt a second flying lap which, in these conditions, at best matches the previous time.
“On Sunday, we therefore expect a race with at least two pit stops. Medium and Soft, the two compounds offering the highest grip, degrade at a similar rate, although early data suggests that the yellow tyre adapts more easily to the Barcelona track. Between the two, the performance gap is in the region of five to six tenths of a second.”
