Nico Rosberg led the opening practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya on Friday morning, narrowly ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Key Points from FP1:
Rosberg was just 0.070s quicker than Hamilton, with the Mercedes duo recording the fastest speed through the speed trap, some 5km/h quicker than their rivals.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was once again ‘best of the rest’ with a 1:27.806, almost a second shy of the Mercedes pairing – have the Brackley based team managed to maintain their advantage despite a multitude of upgrades at Ferrari?
Carlos Sainz Jr popped up in fifth ahead of team-mate Max Verstappen for Toro Rosso. The pair just ahead of Daniil Kvyat in the sister car at Red Bull, whilst Daniel Ricciardo was ninth.
Raffaele Marciello ran in place of Marcus Ericsson at Sauber and was 12th quickest, just half a second down on Felipe Nasr.
Meanwhile Jolyon Palmer, in place of Romain Grosjean, was quicker than the second Lotus of Pastor Maldonado. The Venezuelan however only completed a handful of laps compared to Palmer’s 21.
Susie Wolff was 14th for Williams, replacing Vatteri Bottas for the session.
Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button were 15th and 16th respectively, whilst Manor brought up the rear, both Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi within six seconds of the fastest time.
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 01 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:26.828 | 28 | |
| 02 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:26.898 | 0.070 | 27 |
| 03 | S. Vettel | Ferrari | 1:27.806 | 0.978 | 21 |
| 04 | K. Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:27.832 | 1.004 | 16 |
| 05 | C. Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:28.132 | 1.304 | 27 |
| 06 | M. Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:28.529 | 1.701 | 23 |
| 07 | D. Kvyat | Red Bull | 1:28.785 | 1.957 | 7 |
| 08 | F. Massa | Williams | 1:28.831 | 2.003 | 21 |
| 09 | D. Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:29.075 | 2.247 | 9 |
| 10 | F. Nasr | Sauber | 1:29.140 | 2.312 | 14 |
| 11 | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:29.409 | 2.581 | 20 |
| 12 | R. Marciello | Sauber | 1:29.630 | 2.802 | 15 |
| 13 | J. Palmer | Lotus | 1:29.676 | 2.848 | 21 |
| 14 | S. Wolff | Williams | 1:29.708 | 2.880 | 22 |
| 15 | F. Alonso | McLaren | 1:29.813 | 2.985 | 22 |
| 16 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:29.817 | 2.989 | 22 |
| 17 | S. Perez | Force India | 1:30.096 | 3.268 | 19 |
| 18 | P. Maldonado | Lotus | 1:39.110 | 3.282 | 7 |
| 19 | W. Stevens | Manor | 1:39.471 | 5.643 | 22 |
| 20 | R. Merhi | Manor | 1:40.657 | 5.819 | 20 |
