Overview
- George Russell set the fastest time in FP1 with a 1:34.077 on Friday, ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc.
- Mercedes ran one-two pace in the session while Red Bull and McLaren posted slower times with Max Verstappen fifth and Lando Norris sixth.
- Teams moved onto soft tyres midway through the session and those runs produced the decisive lap times, with Mercedes and Liam Lawson among the first to fit soft rubber.
- The session ran largely without crashes despite pre-weekend safety warnings, though several drivers radioed complaints about being impeded during flying laps.
- FP1 is an initial setup and tyre check rather than a predictor of race results and teams will use the session data to refine balance and strategy ahead of qualifying and the sprint.