Max Verstappen comfortably led FP1 of F1 Spanish GP from teammate Sergio Perez as Esteban Ocon was third.

Under the baking hot Spanish sun, which saw track temperatures reaching as high as 43C, it proved to be ideal temperatures for the drivers to test the new Pirelli tyre construction ahead of them being used at next month’s race at Silverstone.

Many of the drivers opted to start the day with a run on the prototype tyres before switching to the mediums, with Verstappen setting the early pace ahead of both his former and current Red Bull team mates Pierre Gasly and Perez.

The Red Bull pair then made the early switch to the soft tyre, with Perez going to the top of the leaderboard, only for Verstappen to set a time of 1m 14.606s, eclipsing his team mate’s time by a whopping 0.768s, just moments later.

Fresh from finishing on the podium last time out in Monaco, Esteban Ocon was third fastest, ahead of the surprise package of AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries in fourth, and his Alpine team mate Gasly in fifth.

Home favourite Fernando Alonso was sixth fastest for Aston Martin, ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, and the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in eighth and ninth, respectively – with Sainz the lone Ferrari running their upgraded package in FP1.

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton – a six-time winner in Barcelona – were 10th and 12th, respectively, for Mercedes with the McLaren of Lando Norris between them. Zhou Guanyu, in the Alfa Romeo, was 13th quickest, ahead of the other AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda, and the other Aston Martin of Lance Stroll down in 15th.

Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas was 16th, ahead of McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri in 17th, the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg, with the Williams pair of Logan Sargeant and Alex Albon at the bottom of the field.

Here’s detail on new PU elements: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2023%20Spanish%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20New%20PU%20elements%20for%20this%20Competition.pdf

[Note: The story is as per press release]

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