Mercedes' British driver George Russell set the fastest time in the first free practice session ahead of Sunday's Barcelona Formula 1 Grand Prix, the seventh round of the 2027 season.
The "Silver Arrows" driver set the fastest lap of 1:16.363 on the 4.6km track in Montmelo, Catalonia. McLaren's Oscar Piastre was second, 0.203 seconds behind, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was third, 0.520 seconds slower than Russell. Four-time world champion Max Verstappen finished fourth.
Seven of the 11 teams gave rookies a chance in one of their two cars for the first practice session. Among them, young Italian debutant Leonardo Fornaroli, in place of reigning champion Lando Norris, set a fifth fastest time, and Estonian Paul Aron, in place of Nico Hulkenberg for Audi, also came within a second of George Russell.
The Barcelona Grand Prix race is on Sunday at 16:00 Bulgarian time, and before that, qualifying is scheduled for 17:00 on Saturday and two more practice sessions.