BARCELONA — George Russell set the benchmark on heavy fuel during Friday's practice sessions ahead of the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix, emerging as the fastest long-run driver with a lot of fuel on board as Mercedes moved clearly ahead of the field.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen was his closest challenger on the adjusted long-run order. The Dutchman finished just 0.13 seconds per lap slower than Russell after the times were corrected for different tyre compounds and stint lengths across the Friday running.
World championship leader Kimi Antonelli was the third-fastest long-run driver on the same adjusted metric. His position behind Russell and Verstappen completed the top three in the fuel-corrected race-pace analysis from the opening day.
The comparison provides an early indicator of race pace heading into the remainder of the Spanish GP weekend, with the tyre- and stint-adjusted averages pointing to a narrow but clear advantage for Mercedes on long runs after Friday practice.