Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were eighth and ninth fastest respectively in the first free practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit. During the 60 minutes, the Scuderia did a back-to-back comparison between the SF-23 in its previous configuration in the hands of the Monegasque and the other car, driven by the Spaniard, featuring the updates.
57 laps. Both drivers first went out on the C1 compound prototype tyre that Pirelli has brought here to test prior to its race debut in Silverstone. They each did ten laps before switching to the Medium compound, setting times of 1’17”035 for Carlos and 1’17”110 for Charles. In the middle of the session, they switched to Softs, setting their quickest times of the hour, Charles posting a 1’15”694 and Carlos a 1’15”726. For the final 15 minutes of the session, the cars took on more fuel to run in race configuration. Leclerc did 28 laps and Sainz 27.