The drivers have spoken after Friday's first taste of Madrid's brand new Madring circuit, and it's clear this place is going to sort the wheat from the chaff this weekend. Kimi Antonelli put in a seriously impressive showing for Mercedes, topping FP2 with a 1:33.662 lap after locking up in the opening session. The Italian's confidence around the track was evident, and George Russell started strong by leading FP1, though he struggled to replicate that form when the softs came out in the second hour.

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Ferrari came out swinging early on, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc looking rapid on the medium compound tyre. Once they switched to softs though, things got a bit messy. Both drivers were locking up regularly, and Hamilton actually drew complaints from Nice Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz for not getting out of the way quickly enough. If the Scuderia can tidy up their act, they'll definitely be in the fight with Mercedes come Sunday, but they've got work to do overnight.

The unanimous feedback from everyone is that this place is absolutely brutal to get right. Turn 12 in particular is shredding tyres, and the combination of high-speed corners, walls right up close, and the need to brake while turning makes it a genuine challenge. Russell summed it up perfectly, noting that overtaking is going to be a nightmare, which means qualifying performance tomorrow morning could be absolutely decisive.

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Mercedes trackside boss Andrew Shovlin reckoned the team did a solid job with preparation, and it showed. Both cars were improving through the session, though the front tyres seem to be taking a proper hammering. Shovlin acknowledged that staying in the performance window is going to be tricky as the track keeps evolving, but he seemed confident the team could find the extra pace needed to fight for pole position.

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There's clearly a lot to sort out between now and Sunday's race, but Friday's running has shown that Mercedes and Ferrari are the front runners heading into the rest of the weekend at this mad new venue.

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