Ferrari 1-2 in Catalunya FP1

Barcelona, Spain - Ferrari was first and second in opening practice for the Spanish Grand Prix on Friday, with Sebastian Vettel leading Kimi Raikkonen, and the top four drivers all inside the 2015 pole position time.

Vettel’s best time of 1m23.951s was 0.138s quicker than his Finnish team-mate and half a second faster than runaway championship leader Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes.

The Ferrari drivers were the only ones using the quicker, soft tyres, however, having opted for more sets than their ivals as they feel their car is better suited to them.

Rosberg, who was on pole in 2015 with a time of 1:24.681, is chasing his fifth win in five races this year and his eighth in a row.

His triple world champion team-mate Lewis Hamilton, 43 points behind Rosberg in the standings, was fourth fastest in the session with the Mercedes drivers lapping on the slower medium tyres.

Hamilton has been hit by power unit failures in the previous two races, starting from the back of the grid in China and 10th in Russia, and Mercedes said it had changed the turbo and part of the energy recovery system for Barcelona.

But there was just one set available due to the limited time to change the design between the previous race in Russia and Spain and getting it ready in time had taken a “superhuman” effort.

Also read: Verstappen is Red Bull's future - Horner

The two Red Bull drivers were fifth and sixth, with Dutch teenager Max Verstappen making his practice debut with the ‘A team’ after leaving Toro Rosso in a swap with Russian Daniil Kvyat.

Ricciardo lapped in 1:25.416 with Verstappen's best time being 1:25.585, despite the teenager having some early problems with the car's acceleration.

Kvyat was 12th, with Spanish team-mate Carlos Sainz eighth.

Spain's double champion Fernando Alonso was 10th for McLaren.

Mexican Sergio Perez had a difficult morning, stopping with two thirds of the session remaining after smoke came from the rear of his Force India car. The team have brought major aerodynamic upgrades to Spain.

French rising star and reserve Sebastien Ocon made his practice debut with Renault, driving the car that Britain's Jolyon Palmer will race on Sunday, but was unable to set a lap time due to technical problems. -Reuters

Spanish Grand Prix: first free practice:

1 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari 1:23.951

2 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1:24.089

3 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1:24.454

4 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1:24.611

5 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull 1:25.416

6 Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull 1:25.585

7 Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams 1:25.672

8 Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) Toro Rosso 1:26.078

9 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams 1:26.186

10 Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren 1:26.243

11 Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) Renault 1:26.576