Photo: McLaren
Seven rookies took part in the opening practice session around Barcelona, standing in for main drivers and getting a taste of Formula 1 machinery. 2025 Formula 2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli headed the six while Luke Browning was left to rue his luck as an electrical issue prevented him from getting out on track.
Leonardo Fornaroli
One world champion replaced another as 2025 F2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli took to the wheel of McLaren’s 2025 F1 world champion Lando Norris’ MCL40. It marked the first time the Italian has appeared during an F1 session, having previously completed a TPC [testing of previous cars] test with the Woking-based team.
Tallying 22 laps, seven fewer than his teammate Oscar Piastri, Fornaroli headed the seven rookies, placing fifth overall with a 1m17.216s leaving him 0.853s adrift of pacesetter George Russell.
“It was an incredible feeling to complete my first official session in Formula 1,” he said. “I felt good in the car and fully focused on the job ahead, looking to deliver clean runs and execute the aero program. The pure laptime wasn’t our target today, even though we finished P5. The priority was to give the team all the data they needed, and I’m really happy with the work we did together.
“From here, I’ll keep supporting the team in my reserve driver role, continue the sim work throughout the season, and look forward to more TPC running ahead of further FP1 opportunities later in the year.”
Fornaroli’s work continued almost immediately with a further TPC test at Monza on Tuesday, before Haas offers him further running at Jerez on Wednesday.
Paul Aron
Photo: Audi
Aron, on loan once more from Alpine, took to the wheel of Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi and showed his quality, finishing sixth overall, six places and 0.888s clear of teammate Gabriel Bortoleto.
The Estonian’s time of a 1m17.321s left him just under a second shy of Russell in a mighty showing.
Aron has taken part in multiple TPCs for Alpine as well as making FP1 appearances last year in Abu Dhabi, Mexico and Monza for the team, but his debut outing came at Silverstone last year behind the wheel of the then Sauber team’s C45.
“It was my first opportunity to drive a 2026 car under the new regulations, and while we had prepared extensively, nothing quite compares to experiencing it in the real car for the first time,” he said. “There was a lot to learn and adapt to, but I was very happy with how the session went.
“We completed the full run plan, which was important for the team, and to finish the session with competitive pace was a nice bonus. I was pleased with my performance and, most importantly, able to give the team all the data they were looking for.
Aron will return to FP1 action at the next round in Austria.
Dino Beganovic
Photo: Ferrari
Pausing his F2 duties, Beganovic stepped into Lewis Hamilton’s ultimately race winning Ferrari for his third FP1 outing with the Scuderia.
Despite finishing 0.895s adrift of his teammate Charles Leclerc, Beganovic tallied the most laps of the field with 30 laps to his name.
Barcelona also played host to Beganovic’s debut outing behind the wheel of the new 2026 F1 car with the Swedish driver claiming he was “super happy” with the running he managed.
“Very clean [running] and that was what we targeted for the session,” explained Beganovic. “It’s always amazing to pull on the red suit and work with all the engineers and mechanics.”
“It was a big difference from running old medium to the soft,” he commented after a switch of tyres midway through his session allowed him to fly up the order.
Ayumu Iwasa
Photo: Red Bull
Though he stepped away from F2 at the end of 2023, Iwasa has continued his association with the Red Bull family.
The Japanese driver stepped into Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull for the opening session in Barcelona and set a 1m18.298s leaving him 14th overall, 1.251s adrift of his teammate and four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen.
Iwasa continues to go from strength to strength in Japanese Super Formula this campaign, sitting second just 9.5 points adrift of top spot, having already claimed the championship last year.
This weekend marks the first time the 24-year-old has sat behind the wheel of a Red Bull F1 car having completed a handful of FP1 sessions behind the wheel of the previous years’ Racing Bulls cars.
Frederik Vesti
Vesti joined Mercedes as a junior driver back in 2021, off the back of his strong performances in FIA Formula 3 in both the 2020 and 2021 campaigns which saw the Danish driver finish fourth in both seasons.
Having spent five years with the team, and now holding the responsibility of third choice driver, the 2023 F2 runner up is no stranger to an FP1 appearance behind the wheel of a Silver Arrow.
At Barcelona, Vesti appeared behind the wheel of the W17 in place of current championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
Racking up 28 laps, the Danish driver finished 15th overall, a 1m18.365s leaving him 2.002s shy of his teammate Russell’s session topping time.
Colton Herta
Photo: Cadillac F1 Team
With speculation linking him to a race drive with the Cadillac F1 team as soon as Spa, the American took to the wheel of an F1 car for the first time in FP1 format.
Having taken part in F2 practice beforehand, like Ferrari’s Dino Beganovic, Herta jumped behind the wheel of the MAC-26 for the first time but failed to set a competitive lap time, winding up at the bottom of the leaderboard.
Despite the Hitech F2 driver being 1.783s slower than Valtteri Bottas (down in 18th place) Herta racked up four more laps than his teammate with a grand total of 27 to his name.
“A lot of firsts for me,” he said after the session. “Not a long time to get up to speed but it was very enjoyable. The car was very impressive to drive, and I felt confident after a few laps so overall, I think it was super positive.”
Team boss Graeme Lowdon said: “It was great to have Colton in the car today as part of our program. We’re only seven events into the season now, we’re getting more mature as a team, and we can cope with the changes to having a new driver in the car. Colton did a very good job for us today, he got through his run plan helping the team gain valuable data, and he knows what to expect from future FP1s.”
Luke Browning
Browning was the most unfortunate of the rookies this weekend after an electrical issue curtailed the British driver’s first outing of 2026 in a Williams.
Having been confirmed for FP1 outings at both Barcelona and Austria, Browning stepped into the Williams of Alex Albon but was unable to complete a single lap.
Browning will have a second shot behind the wheel of the FW48 next time out in Austria, replacing Carlos Sainz at the Red Bull Ring.