George Russell topped the timesheets in first practice for the Catalunya Formula One Grand Prix on Friday which took place in the absence of several top drivers including his championship leading Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli.
Russell clocked 1 minute 16.363 seconds on the 4.657 kilometres Circuit de Catalunya on a hot afternoon.
He was .203 of a second ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri and .520 clear of ferrari driver Charles Leclerc. Four-time world champion Max Verstappen was fourth, .684 back in his Red Bull.
The session featured seven rookie in place of regular drivers at various teams, with Leo Fornaroli driving the McLaren of world champion Lando Norris to an impressive fifth place less than a second back, ahead of Paul Aron in Nico Hülkenberg's Audi..
Frederik Vesti took Antonelli's place and Dino Beganovic drove Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari.
Antonelli leads the championship 68 points ahead of Russell after his fifth straight victory last weekend in Monaco. Russell finished outside the points in the principality over pit lane speeding and Mercedes failing to serve the penalty correctly.
Alpine's Pierre Gasly was reinstated in third place in Monaco after F1 admitted to pit lane speed measurement inaccuracies.
The Catalunya GP was formerly the Spanish GP but that will from now on be held on a new Madrid circuit. The Barcelona race will alternate with the Belgian race in Spa Francorchamps from next year, with Spa earmarked for 2027 and Barcelona 2028.
