George Russell set the pace in opening practice for the Barcelona Grand Prix, as three of the FP1-only 'rookie' Formula 1 drivers ended the session in the top 10.

The high-speed, flowing sweeps of the Barcelona circuit should, in theory, suit Russell's driving style - something he's grappling with amid his 2026 struggles - and he was sure enough clear of the opposition in a session that championship-leading team-mate Kimi Antonelli sat out.

Russell was fastest on the medium-tyre runs at the start of the session and subsequently set the fastest time of all when he switched to softs, recording a 1m16.363s.

Oscar Piastri was his nearest rival, two tenths off, with Charles Leclerc third and half a second back.

Max Verstappen was 0.684s off for Red Bull as F1's top four teams occupied the top four spots in the classification.

Up next were a couple of eye-catching stand-ins: Leonardo Fornaroli (McLaren) and Paul Aron (Audi).

Formula 2 champion Fornaroli is without a race drive for 2026 but was picked up by McLaren following his title success, and took over F1 champion Lando Norris's car in FP1.

His first F1 weekend outing yielded fifth, 0.853s off the pace, with Aron a tenth further back.

Aron - an Alpine junior but, as was the case last year, on loan to Audi for FP1 appearances - was regularly in the top 10 and ended the session almost nine-tenths and six places ahead of regular driver Gabriel Bortoleto.

Liam Lawson was seventh for Racing Bulls ahead of another FP1 stand-in, Dino Beganovic (Ferrari).

Ayumu Iwasa and Frederik Vesti were 14th and 15th for Red Bull and Mercedes, respectively.

Colton Herta's first F1 race weekend outing in place of Sergio Perez at Cadillac yielded 21st place - last of those who took to the track - 4.334s off the pace.

He used soft tyres for both of his runs, starting by reeling off 11 laps, before switching to a fresh set and setting his best time of 1m20.697s on his first flier.

That was 1.783s slower than regular driver Valtteri Bottas's fastest time, also set on the first flier on softs on his second set of tyres - although the Finn used mediums for his first run.

Herta then returned to the pits and headed out for a long run, completing seven flying laps in that stint - with a lock-up on the downhill approach to Turn 5 on the second-to-last of those - before taking the chequered flag.

Williams reserve driver Luke Browning did not get his FP1 outing as planned, as the team investigated an electrical issue on Alex Albon's car.