Motor racing-Antonelli leads Spanish GP practice as Madring makes its F1 debut

Formula One champion Kimi Antonelli set the fastest lap in free practice for Mercedes at the new Spanish Grand Prix circuit in Madrid on Friday. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton followed closely behind. In the second practice session, George Russell led as teammate of Antonelli, but it was briefly halted due to British rookie Arvid Lindblad crashing and triggering red flags.

Antonelli described the circuit as "a very cool circuit to drive around. It is a real challenge for us as drivers, with lots of high-speed corners and walls close by." Antonelli's best lap of 1:33.662 seconds was 0.113 seconds quicker than Leclerc's fastest effort. Seven-time champion Hamilton was 0.149 seconds off the pace, while Lindblad finished fourth despite the crash.

The 19-year-old stated that the impact wasn't too severe and he felt fine, apologizing for the extra work his team would have to do. Russell, leading practice one with 1:34.077, finished fifth. Leclerc and Hamilton were third and fourth in the first session at the challenging street track located near Madrid's Barajas airport. Verstappen, Hamilton, Piastri, Tsunoda, and Ocon rounded out the top 10.

McLaren's reigning world champion Lando Norris missed the second session as his car's gearbox was changed.