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The 2023 F1 Spanish GP FP1 ended with the familiar site of a Red Bull '1-2'. Max Verstappen topped the timesheets with Sergio Perez in P2. It was a bit of a surprise to see Esteban Ocon in P3 in his Alpine while Nyck de Vries was in P4 in his AlphaTauri.
In a session that saw almost every team try something new on the car, we had home favorites Fernando Alonso in P6 and Carlos Sainz in P9.
While the timesheets might not mean much for now as the teams were in the testing phase, let's take a look at some of the key learnings from the session.
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#1 The Red Bull-Max Verstappen combination looks unbeatable in the Spanish GP
The Red Bull-Max Verstappen combination looks unbeatable at the moment as F1 has moved on from the plethora of street circuits at the start of the season.
It does appear that by the time we've reached the sixth race of the season, Verstappen has understood the demands of the car and is truly starting to stretch its legs against Sergio Perez.
A gap that continued to expand as the session unraveled was close to eight-tenths of a second when the chequered flag. A bit more disappointing thing to note here is that Verstappen has not even started pushing the car.
It was a very smooth lap from him where he was still not pushing the boundaries. After FP1 of the 2023 F1 Spanish GP, while it might be a bit premature to say this but Verstappen is looking like an even bigger favorite than he did at the start of it.
#2 The fight for the second fastest could be very interesting
With Red Bull just a runaway favorite at this stage, the fight for the second-fastest car on the grid could get very interesting.
Alpine's lap time on soft tires was quite interesting as the team comes into the 2023 F1 Spanish GP weekend on the back of a podium. Not only that, the team has claimed that it could fight to be amongst the top 4 teams on the grid.
While it's hard to say what is going to happen, there is certainly an indication that Aston Martin, Ferrari, and Mercedes might be closely matched in the 2023 F1 Spanish GP.
If Alpine is able to join that battle then things could get even more interesting in the battle for the third podium slot.
#3 The new layout is certainly more challenging
The new layout and the slingshot through the final corner have become a serious challenge for everyone already. The cars are loaded up like anything in that corner and that has induced bouncing in quite a few of them.
Having said that, what makes all of this interesting is that the new challenge also means drivers will have to be even more careful in the races.
One mistake in that zone and the driver behind will have a massive straight and the DRS to get an overtake done.
Compared to the previous layout with a somewhat unaesthetic final sector, this one surely gets a thumbs up from everyone involved.
#4 The rookies are happier returning to a familiar track
One look at the timesheets and we see Nyck de Vries being quicker than Yuki Tsunoda at AlphaTauri, similarly we see Logan Sargeant being quicker than Alex Albon.
The 2023 F1 Spanish GP could not have come at a more opportune time as this has given the rookies an opportunity to race on tracks that they are familiar with.
It is sometimes underestimated how big a challenge it is for a driver to come to F1 and race on tracks that he has no experience in.
Not only that, there is an expectation to perform at a very high level as well. Racing on tracks where they have less to no mileage can be a bit tough and the rookies will be breathing a sigh of relief to be racing in the very familiar 2023 F1 Spanish GP this weekend.
#5 AlphaTauri seems deceptively quick
AlphaTauri has shown a marked improvement this season as compared to how it started the season as the slowest car.
Looking at the timesheets and finding De Vries setting a top five is a surprise but it is also a result of continued improvement put together by the team.
In the last few races, the car has made strides and the times in FP1 could mean that points are certainly on the table this weekend.
