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F1 decided to bypass the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya tight chicane and instead restore its original final sector, with two fast right-handers leading onto the main straight, in a bid to improve the show.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen will start the race from pole position ahead of Ferrari rival Carlos Sainz, with McLaren ace Lando Norris lining up third after his best qualifying result of the season.

Max Verstappen and Red Bull did as they have for the rest of Formula 1 2023 so far and dominated the opening day of practice at Barcelona, quickest by a big margin over long runs and topping the times overall.

Following his victory in Monaco last weekend, Verstappen carried on where he left off by clocking the fastest times in both free practice sessions at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona on Friday.

The seven-time world champion endured a difficult opening day of practice at Barcelona, as Mercedes had its first proper run on a regular circuit of new upgrades following their introduction in Monaco.

Max Verstappen completed a Friday practice double for the Spanish Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton finished only 11th on a disheartening day for the seven-time Formual One world champion and his Mercedes team.

At the start of the 60-minute session, AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries set the first-place benchmark at 1m17.918s during the opening laps using the prototype compound construction set to become standard across Pirelli’s range from the upcoming British GP, which several other runners sampled early on too.

Esteban Ocon started and finished third in the principality, while Gasly took seventh despite being frustrated by making a stop for dry tyres shortly before the rain came.

Esteban Ocon started and finished third in the principality, while Gasly took seventh despite being frustrated by making a stop for dry tyres shortly before the rain came.