MADRID (AP) — Kimi Antonelli kept his momentum on the challenging new Madring track on Friday, leading the way in practice in the return of Formula 1's Spanish Grand Prix to Madrid.
Antonelli, the points leader coming off an epic comeback win in Monza, set the fastest time at the hybrid circuit that proved difficult but didn't yield many major incidents on the first day of track action.
Arvid Lindblad's crash prompted the first red flag of the weekend.
He lost control of his Racing Bull on a turn and hit the barriers.
“I’m really sorry, I lost it super early,” the rookie told his team over the radio.
Some drivers went off the track and a few brushed the walls at the unforgiving layout which mixes city roads and purpose-built sections. Many struggled to avoid track-limits warnings, and traffic was an issue as the layout produced few overtaking opportunities.
Qualifying on Saturday was likely to be key in determining Sunday's winner of F1's first race in Madrid in 45 years.
Antonelli, the young Italian looking to keep his momentum and add to his points lead after rallying from 19th on the grid to win the Italian GP in Monza last weekend, was second in the first practice to teammate George Russell.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were second and third in the second session, respectively, both about a tenth of a second behind Antonelli. Lindblad was fourth despite his crash, ahead of Russell and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Last weekend's victory gave the 20-year-old Antonelli a 66-point lead over Russell with 10 races remaining.
The Spanish GP ends the European part of the season. The Madrid region last hosted an F1 race in 1981 at Jarama, on the outskirts of the capital. Barcelona was the home of the Spanish GP in recent years. The Jerez de la Frontera track in southern Spain hosted races from 1986-90, and in 1994 and 1997. Madring signed a contract with F1 through 2035.
The 5.4-kilometer (3.3-mile) Madring track, the newest addition to the F1 calendar since Las Vegas’ debut three years ago, combines high-speed zones, heavy-braking areas, changes of gradient, blind turns and high-load corners that should give drivers little margin for error.
The heavily banked corner “La Monumental” was one of the highlights of the new track. It is nearly 550 meters in length, with up to 10 meters of height difference between its lower and upper sections.
Cars from F2 and F3 were the first to take to the track on Friday, with a fiery crash involving F2 driver Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak after he hit the barriers and his car caught fire.
Organizers said tickets for the Spanish GP were sold out, with 350,000 people in total expected to attend over the three days of racing.
But it was unlikely they will be celebrating a victory for one of the two Spanish drivers as Fernando Alonso 's Aston Martin and Carlos Sainz's Williams remained off the pace.
Alonso missed parts of the second practice because of a clutch problem. He ended 15th in the first session and 17th in the second. Sainz was 17th fastest in the first session and 16th in the second.
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