Oscar Piastri Off To A Fast Start In Barcelona

Oscar Piastri was quickest on the first day of practice for the Spanish Grand Prix. McLaren’s Australian was the only driver to get under the 1’13” barrier, his best lap being a 1’12”760, half a second quicker than Lewis Hamilton’s fastest Friday lap from last year. Piastri was also quickest in all three sectors. It was his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris who topped the time sheet in the first session with a lap in 1’13”718.

Right from the first session, 18 of the 20 cars on track ran the C1, the only exceptions being Lance Stroll’s number 18 Aston Martin and the 43 Alpine in the hands of Franco Colapinto. The Mercedes pairing of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli and the Williams duo of Carlos Sainz, and Victor Martins, the latter driving Alex Albon’s car in FP1, did something different, running a set of Medium and one of Hards, while the rest of the field alternated between Hard and Soft.

In FP2 Colapinto and Stroll also put the Hard to work, to complete the picture. Therefore all drivers will only have one set of C1 for the rest of the weekend. On this subject, it’s worth noting that, as from tomorrow morning, Williams and Mercedes will only have one set of Medium and one of Hard.

Lando Norris – P1 in FP1

“It was a reasonable Friday, the car felt good in general. We experimented with a few things in FP2, which was useful, and I think we have a good direction to go in for tomorrow.”

Oscar Piastri – P1 in FP2

“It was an up-and-down day, but think it ended pretty well. The conditions are a bit tricky with these temperatures, so it’s going to make for an interesting day tomorrow. Our competitors look quick as well, so I think it’s going to be a very tight battle in Qualifying. We’ll make some tweaks overnight to put ourselves in the strongest position for tomorrow.”

Simone Berra – Pirelli Chief Engineer

“The Spanish Grand Prix is always a very interesting event from a technical viewpoint, given the challenges it sets for drivers, cars and tyres. This year is no exception and as for our product, it also confirms what a demanding test it sets them, especially in these rather high temperatures.

“Today we saw the teams work with all three compounds and all drivers used at least one set of Hards, keeping back just one set for the race. The performance difference between the compounds seems to be in line with expectations, somewhere around nine tenths to a second between the Hard and Medium and six to seven tenths between the Medium and Soft. The data gathered from the long runs was very useful, especially from Mercedes who extended them more than usual on both on the Soft and Medium.

“On this very abrasive surface, managing thermal degradation on the rear axle will be one of the key factors on Sunday. In order to try and protect the rear tyres, the teams will have to pay particular attention to car balance, as there’s a risk of increasing the stress on the fronts, especially the left side. With this scenario, if one wants to extend the stint a lot, then tyre wear must be taken into account, always paying particular attention to the front left, which is put under significant stress.

The track has evolved significantly, to the tune of one second from the first to the second session and an increase in car performance was already clear to see today, with the fastest lap time being half a second quicker than in 2024.

“If we already look ahead to Sunday, its relatively easy to hypothesise that we will see a similar scenario to last year’s race, with the Medium and Soft as protagonists of a two-stop race.”