Testing the Waters: Rookies and Upgrades Take Center Stage in Barcelona FP1

Round 6 of the FIA Formula One World Championship in 2026 takes us to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where we will not only be seeing our favourite 22 men, but also 7 fresh-faced rookies, who were to take on the first practice session of the weekend. Colton Herta replaced Perez, Frederik Vestri took over from Antonelli, Ayumu Iwasa took Hadjar’s Red Bull for a ride, Dino Beganovic had his first F1 run in Leclerc’s Ferrari, Paul Aron took over from Hülkenberg, Leonardo Fornaroli took the place of Norris, and Luke Browning took Albon’s grief-stricken Williams.

The pit lane went green at 13:30 local time, and Franco Colapinto led his Alpine first out of the pit lane. Sainz faced problems before he even got out of the pit lane, as he became stranded in the fast lane with electrical issues. Sainz wasn’t the only one with issues, as only ten minutes in, he reported brake vibrations, and he was told that nothing could be done until FP2, but luckily, the Australian said he can continue driving. Williams seemed to be drowning in issues today as Luke Browing hadn’t even made it out of the pits, with the team working on an electrical failure. At the same time, on track, Colton Herta had a moment where he rode the kerbs and told the Cadillac team to “check the floor”.

The session remained uneventful until 14:00, when the yellow flags flew for Bortoleto, who lost the rear of his Audi and went on and across the gravel trap near Turn 7 as Verstappen topped the times with a 1:17.047. There was still no sign of Browning, 40 minutes into the session, who was losing the valuable opportunity to shine in Barcelona.

Out of the 7 rookies in the session, Paul Aron seemed the most impressive in 9th, just behind his experienced Brazilian teammate, but he quickly jumped to 5th. But the Brazilian was facing his own issues as he spent the last 10 minutes of the session reporting that he had no grip and had to slide into an escape road, something which a lot of drivers have had to do.

The session remained mostly uneventful, something not unusual for around Barcelona. At 14:30 local time, the 5 lights turned red, signalling the end of the session. Russell claimed the top spot with a 1:16.363, finishing ahead of Piastri and Leclerc. Leo Fornaroli was the fastest rookie overall in this session as he planted his borrowed McLaren in 5th place.

All 22 drivers will be in their cars for FP2 later on this afternoon. Will Mercedes continue to dominate, or will somebody else show their worth?