Kimi Antonelli Tops Practice Sessions in Madrid
Kimi Antonelli laid down an early marker in Madrid, topping Friday practice at Formula 1’s newest venue and underlining exactly why he leads the championship.
On a day when the Madring finally bared its teeth, the 19-year-old Mercedes driver was quickest in the second session with a 1:33.662, edging Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 0.113 seconds and keeping seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton behind him by 0.149.
The kid is not blinking.
Antonelli answers Russell – and the circuit bites back
George Russell had drawn first blood in the opening session, leading the way with a 1:34.077 as Mercedes immediately looked at ease around the flowing, high-speed layout that wraps around the IFEMA exhibition centre near Barajas airport.
Antonelli, second in that first hour, responded when the track gripped up. On low fuel and soft tyres, he hooked up the lap of the day while chaos briefly erupted behind him.
Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad became the first F1 driver to crash at the Madring, losing the rear at Turn 13 and spearing sideways into the barriers. The impact brought out the red flags and ended his session with 24 minutes still on the clock.
The 19-year-old climbed out unhurt and apologised over the radio, but the damage was done. Until then, he had been one of the stories of the afternoon.
Remarkably, Lindblad still ended the session fourth fastest, his earlier laps good enough to keep him right behind Hamilton on the timesheets despite the premature end.
Russell, Antonelli’s closest title rival, had to settle for fifth in FP2 after his FP1 benchmark. The intra-Mercedes duel is already simmering, and Friday only stoked it further.
Leclerc, Hamilton and Verstappen lurking
Leclerc and Hamilton had been third and fourth in the opening practice and again looked sharp in the second, Ferrari and Mercedes trading purple sectors as the sun beat down on the new circuit.
Behind them, Max Verstappen kept a watching brief. The four-time world champion could not quite match the front-running pace and finished sixth for Red Bull, just ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in seventh.
Racing Bulls’ stand-in Yuki Tsunoda slotted into eighth, with Esteban Ocon ninth for Haas after a tidy pair of sessions.
Liam Lawson, deputising for the injured Isack Hadjar for a third consecutive race weekend, delivered a solid day for Red Bull. The New Zealander finished 10th in both sessions, a model of consistency while others flirted with the walls.
Norris sidelined, tempers flare
Not everyone enjoyed a smooth introduction to the Madring.
McLaren’s reigning world champion Lando Norris missed the entire second session as the team changed his gearbox, leaving him watching from the garage while rivals dialled in their race runs and qualifying simulations.
Out on track, the complaints started to pile up.
Home favourite Fernando Alonso brushed the wall in his Aston Martin and ended the day 15th and 17th in the two sessions, unable to ignite the grandstands just yet. Spain’s other local hero, Carlos Sainz, endured an even tougher time: 17th in FP1 and 16th in FP2 for Williams around his home city.
Traffic quickly became a theme. Several drivers took to the radio to vent about rivals getting in the way on flying laps.
Nico Hülkenberg was furious after Hamilton failed to move aside at the final corner, snapping, “That’s just nasty,” as his lap evaporated.
Lindblad, already in the spotlight after his crash, did not hold back either. He branded both Hamilton and Antonelli “stupid” over the radio after accusing them of blocking him through the circuit’s signature Turn 12 – the steeply banked “La Monumental” that has already become a flashpoint.
A circuit with an edge
Earlier in the day, a fiery crash in F2 practice had underlined how unforgiving the Madring can be. F1’s first session passed without major incident, but the afternoon told a different story as drivers pushed harder and the limits closed in.
The layout is fast, narrow in places, and ringed with barriers that punish even small misjudgements. It is already forcing teams to balance aggression with survival, and that equation will only sharpen when qualifying arrives.
For now, Antonelli owns the headline time and the psychological edge. Leclerc and Hamilton are within striking distance, Verstappen is lurking, and Russell has already shown he can lead the way here.
Madrid’s new arena has its first pecking order. The real question is how long it will stay that way once the gloves come off.
