Kimi Antonelli Sets Early Pace at Madrid’s New Formula 1 Circuit
On Formula 1’s newest strip of tarmac, Kimi Antonelli wasted no time making himself at home.
The 20-year-old championship leader topped practice at the Madring, steering the sport’s return to Madrid after 45 years with the authority of a driver who already knows where this title is heading. Fresh from a storming comeback win from 19th on the grid in Monza, Antonelli carried that momentum straight into Spain, quickest in the second session on a day that asked questions of everyone.
This is a real challenge.
High-speed walls, blind corners, heavy braking zones and barely a breath between them. The track didn’t need rain or chaos to look menacing. It did that on its own.
George Russell had set the early benchmark in first practice, but by the end of the afternoon Antonelli had the measure of the new 5.4km hybrid layout, edging Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton by around a tenth. Behind them came Arvid Lindblad, Russell and Max Verstappen, a top six that underlined just how quickly the grid is learning this unforgiving loop of city streets and purpose-built sections.
A circuit that punishes hesitation
Drivers spent much of the day dancing on the edge of the white lines. Several ran wide, a few kissed the walls, and almost everyone flirted with track limits as they searched for grip and confidence.
It is very easy to lock up.
Antonelli admitted. The Madring forces drivers to brake and turn at the same time in multiple corners, a combination that chews through rubber and punishes even tiny mistakes. The walls sit close enough to keep everyone honest.
The first major warning came from Lindblad. The British rookie lost the rear of his Racing Bull, hit the barriers and triggered the weekend’s first red flag. Even so, his pace before the incident was strong enough to keep him fourth in the second session.
I’m really sorry, I lost it super early.
He told his team over the radio. The lap times said something different: there is speed in that car, if he can keep it out of the wall.
Lando Norris didn’t even get that far in FP2. A gearbox problem curtailed his McLaren’s running, a frustrating outcome on a day when track time was gold dust.
Lawson solid but overshadowed in Red Bull’s split picture
For Liam Lawson, the brief was simple: learn fast, stay out of trouble, keep it clean. He ticked every box.
The interim Red Bull driver completed both practice sessions in the top 10, finishing P10 in each, roughly 0.8 seconds off Verstappen’s pace both times. On a brand-new circuit with no margin for error, that’s a solid return.
On a track like this, you want to have as much time on track as possible.
Lawson said beforehand, and he drove like a man who meant it. No big moments, no brushes with the barriers, no drama.
Yet the stopwatch told a harsher story. His usual Racing Bulls team ran quicker, with Lindblad beating him in both sessions despite the crash. Verstappen’s recent comments about the 2024 regulations and the similarity between the Red Bull and Racing Bulls machines suddenly looked even more pointed.
No disrespect. And I hope no one picks up on this. But look at Yuki. He jumps in the car. Never driven the car before. Immediately competitive.
Verstappen had said.
Liam jumps from the Racing Bulls to the Red Bull — immediately competitive. It’s because these cars are numb to your driver inputs… The fastest drivers will always come out on top. But it’s really, really limited.
On Friday’s evidence, the intra-family battle between the two Red Bull-owned teams will be one of the more intriguing subplots of the weekend.
Tyres on the brink and strategy on a knife-edge
While the walls grabbed the eye, the tyres grabbed the engineers’ attention.
Grip levels were better than many expected, but that only made life harder over a stint. Drivers leaned heavily on the rubber through the Madring’s long, loaded corners, and degradation spiked.
There’s a big question mark over the tyre degradation.
Russell said.
With the tyre degradation we all had, we think a six-stop race would probably have been the fastest way. I don’t think anybody’s going to do a six-stop race on Sunday and I’m sure tyre deg will be better, but with that big long corner, it really hurts the tyres. That’s going to be a real challenge for everyone.
Teams spent much of both sessions juggling run plans, trying to understand how hard they can push and for how long. Get it wrong on Sunday and a driver could tumble down the order in a handful of laps.
Overtaking, though, might be the bigger headache. The layout offers precious few clear passing zones, and traffic already looked messy in practice. Single-lap execution will be everything.
Overtaking is likely going to be a real challenge.
Antonelli warned.
That makes our single-lap work tomorrow morning even more important. We will focus on that overnight, but also looking to ensure we have a good race car for Sunday.
Pole here could be worth more than usual. A front-row start might be the difference between controlling the race and staring at the back of a rival’s rear wing for 66 laps.
Home hopes muted as Spain’s stars struggle
Inside the sold-out grandstands – organisers expect 350,000 fans over three days – the colours of Spain were everywhere. On track, though, the home favourites were nowhere near the sharp end.
Fernando Alonso’s day never really got going. A clutch issue cost the Aston Martin driver valuable time in the second session, and his lap times told the story of a team on the back foot: 15th in FP1, 17th in FP2.
Carlos Sainz fared little better in his Williams. He ended the first session 17th and the second 16th, stuck in the lower reaches of the timing screens while the frontrunners dialled in their cars at the other end of the pit lane.
The expectation in the paddock is blunt: a Spanish win looks unlikely. The crowd may have to find its drama somewhere else.
A brutal debut for Madrid, and a title picture sharpening
The Madring’s first day as an F1 venue was busy before the main act even began. F2 and F3 cars opened proceedings, and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak’s fiery crash in F2 – his car hit the barriers and caught fire – underlined how little room this circuit leaves for misjudgment. It was a jarring reminder: this is a modern track with old-school consequences.
By the time the F1 field packed up on Friday evening, one theme had emerged. This place rewards precision and punishes hesitation. It also seems built for a driver like Antonelli.
His Monza win gave him a 66-point lead over Russell with 10 races left. Now he’s fastest out of the blocks at a brand-new venue that could easily have tripped him up. Leclerc and Hamilton sit close, Verstappen lurks, and Russell knows exactly what’s at stake.
The European leg of the season ends here in Madrid. If Antonelli turns this early statement into another big result, the rest of the field won’t just be chasing him on Sunday.
They’ll be chasing him all the way to the finale.
