Spain – EL1: Ferrari faster than Red Bull

In Barcelona, ​​the Team Ferrari wins first battle against Red Bull. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) achieved the best time in Free Practice 1 of the Spanish Grand Prix in 1'19″828. Right behind him, Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) signs the second best time, 7 hundredths behind his teammate. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) completes the podium, 3 tenths behind Ferrari. The improvements seem to be bearing fruit for the Italian team, which has been struggling against Red Bull since the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. 

Behind the two leading stables, Mercedes is getting closer but still remains 7 tenths behind for George Russell (Mercedes) and 9 for Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) from the Monegasque leader. The German team is probably going all out on this Grand Prix with their concept struggling to confirm its potential. Between the two Silver Arrows, it is Fernando Alonso (Alpine) who interposed his car. The Spaniard is not finished with the session since the commissioners will look into his incident with Lewis Hamilton who he hindered on his flying lap at turn 14. 

The lap of the Catalunya circuit in the helmet of Fernando Alonso 🎥#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 #F1

▶ https://t.co/7plkVVV12v pic.twitter.com/oSZAsHR2f4

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) May 20, 2022

Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo not yet ready with their improvements

McLaren is the team arriving at this Grand Prix weekend with the most modifications on the clock, 10. These changes did not prevent Lando Norris (McLaren) to finish in 7th position in 1'21″279 ahead Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) 5 tenths behind the Briton. Aston Martin, also made the choice of change, in a more radical way, with a new aerodynamic package. After a few rounds with the racks, Sebastian Vettel is in 16th position in the session in 1'22″164. Lance stroll which initially was to be the only one to have the second version of the AMR22 was more comfortable on the track in 1'21″920. 

This first Free Practice session was also an opportunity to Nyck de Vries (Williams) and Jüri Vips (Red Bull) to accumulate laps aboard a Formula 1 single-seater. While there is talk of a potential replacement of Nicholas latifi (Williams) by the Dutchman, the pilot of Formula E finished ahead of the Canadian in Barcelona. The other replacement on the grid for this session, Robert Kubica (Alfa Romeo) known for his valuable analysis and feedback skills, finished in 13th position ahead of Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) only 17th at the end of the first hour of testing in Spain. The second session in Barcelona is scheduled for 17:00 p.m.

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