Hamilton sets pace in Spanish Grand Prix practice

Lewis Hamilton set the pace in Friday practice at the Spanish Grand Prix as Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull looked closely matched.

The seven-time champion was just 0.022 seconds quicker than Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, with McLaren’s Lando Norris third just 0.055secs off the pace.

However, the risks of making assumptions about competitive form from Friday practice were underlined by Pierre Gasly’s Alpine setting fourth-fastest time.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, complaining of a lack of front grip, was fifth ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Mercedes’ George Russell.

In the first session, Norris set the pace from Verstappen.

The race-simulation times later in the second session also suggested that the top teams were closely matched, with Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren all setting similar pace.

However, while those teams did their race runs predominantly on the soft tyres, Red Bull chose mediums for Verstappen so his times could not be compared.

Red Bull and Ferrari both have significant upgrades on their cars for the start of a run of races in the European heartland of Formula 1.

Spain is the first of races on three consecutive weekends, followed by Austria and Silverstone, before a week’s gap and then Hungary and Belgium back to back before the sport has its August break.