Kimi Antonelli: Friday turned out to be challenging.

      Kimi Antonelli missed the first part of free practice in Barcelona, giving his car to Frederic Vesti. After the second session, in which he set the fifth fastest time, the championship leader spoke about tire overheating and difficulties in finding the optimal balance.

      George Russell completed both practice sessions, finishing less than a hundredth of a second behind the leader's time in the second session and was satisfied with the first day of the race weekend.

      George Russell (2nd): "Our first day in Barcelona was quite successful. After a series of setbacks in the last races, it was important to be among the leaders from the very start of the weekend, and I managed to do that.

      The car looked good in both sessions and, importantly, was stable. On a track like Barcelona, this is very significant, as any weaknesses in the car become immediately noticeable.

      The results look very tight. The McLaren drivers are fast on a single lap, and the long run results in the second session show that we will face serious competition from Ferrari and Red Bull.

      Of course, there are still a few areas to work on, but we have a good foundation for further development. Tonight we will try to find a bit more speed, as even small improvements can play an important role. For now, I am optimistic about this weekend."

      Kimi Antonelli (5th): "Friday was challenging, especially regarding speed on a fast lap. The working range turned out to be very narrow, and the tires overheated quite quickly, so we still have to work on finding the optimal balance of the car.

      When you can only make one attempt on each set, achieving the perfect result is always difficult. Overall, we have a lot to work on, and there is quite a bit of work ahead, but I am confidently looking forward to tomorrow.

      The race pace on long runs looked decent, which can be considered a positive aspect. Now I am looking forward to Saturday and the changes in setup that we plan to make.

      In fact, such a situation on Friday is quite usual. Usually, we use a heavily worn set of tires, so tomorrow, when we have the opportunity to work with new sets, there shouldn't be any problems.

      At the same time, George looked very fast, as did the McLaren drivers, so it won't be an easy life. Tonight we will carefully analyze the collected data and try to prepare for Saturday as best as we can."