Spanish Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc leads Ferrari one-two

In the first practice session at the Spanish Grand Prix, championship leader Charles Leclerc led a Ferrari one-two from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Verstappen was 0.336 seconds off the pace but found traffic on his quickest lap, while Leclerc was 0.079 seconds ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz.

Several teams have brought significant vehicle upgrades to Barcelona.

So far, the order has remained the same, with George Russell fourth ahead of Fernando Alonso of Alpine.

Lewis Hamilton was sixth fastest, 0.221 seconds slower than teammate Russell, as Mercedes evaluated a new floor package in the hopes of finding answers to their car’s dismal performance this season.

The “porpoising” or bouncing problem, that has kept Mercedes from reaching the performance they feel is in the car, and if they can restrict it, the automobile will be able to take a step ahead.

Simultaneously, comparing the data from this race with that from pre-season testing could help Mercedes determine whether they need to rethink their entire design philosophy, which is unlike any other car.

The Aston Martin, McLaren, and Alfa Romeo cars have the most alterations, and the one on the Aston has made a fuss because it appears to be a carbon duplicate of the Red Bull.

Red Bull has questioned whether any of its intellectual property has made it onto the Aston Martin, especially since the team has lost a number of employees, but the FIA has examined and determined that everything is in order.

Another off-track issue involves Alonso, who was referred to the stewards after publicly criticizing the governing body.

Lando Norris of McLaren was seventh fastest, separated from teammate Daniel Ricciardo by Pierre Gasly’s Alpha Tauri, whose teammate Yuki Tsunoda completed the top ten.

At the front, Ferrari has received their first big upgrade of the season, the centerpiece of which is a new floor, while Red Bull has continued its mission of removing bulk from their car in order to reduce it to the minimum weight limit.

Since Verstappen won the Miami Grand Prix two weeks ago, the car is claimed to have lost another 4kg, which equates to around 0.14 seconds in a lap time.