There are only a couple of laps on the board for last week's polesitter Pierre Gasly and his Alpine team-mate Franco Colapinto. The two drivers finished in the points in Italy, abd Gasly gave us one of the moments of hte season so far with his maiden F1 pole position, six years after his first win at the same circuit.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli, meanwhile, suffers a lock-up at Turn 13. The Mercedes driver is able to carry on with no harm done, but maybe that's a little early warning sign.

The Italian completes his lap and goes second behind Lewis Hamilton, who has improved again, 0.345 seconds off the Ferrari man.

With Isack Hadjar taking time to recover fully from his injury, Liam Lawson is once again Max Verstappen's team-mate over at Red Bull. The New Zealander has performed well so far, and he's currently sitting fourth on the timesheets, not too far off four-time worlxd champion Verstappen, who is second.

Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, said he and Charles Leclerc have "squashed" any controversy between them after the shenanigans of Monza.

Hamilton ended up into the gravel on the opening lap of the Italian Grand Prix, dropping down the order following his brush with Leclerc the first chicane. The Briton recovered to finish sixth, and said yesterday: "What's great is that there was no shying away from having a discussion. We sat face to face, just him and I, and talked about it."

With a new race weekend ahead of us all, Hamilton has improved on his previous time at the top of the timesheets, with Leclerc just 0.105 seconds behind in second.

The weather is glorious all weekend in the Spanish capital, so rain isn't going to be another headache for teams and drivers this weekend.

The forecast predicts Sunday's 57-lap race could be the hottest day of track action, with temperatures reaching a high of 32C.

The message from every team boss up and down the grid will be "please don't bin the car". Esteban Ocon calls into Haas to say the grip is quite high, which is an encouraging sign for the early stages of this Madring weekend.

Charles Leclerc will be hoping for a clean grand prix - with points - after his huge crash at Monza last week. He also had a dicey battle with Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton, and on Thursday, Leclerc held up his hands and said it won't happen again.

The Monegasque driver, on the medium tyres, goes fastest with a 1:38.504, but his time is quickly bettered by the likes of championship leader Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen.

Up next is Hamilton. Now third in the title race, a win would be massive this weekend for the seven-time world hampion. With C3 mediums bolted on, he goes top with a time of 1:36.066.

Image source, Getty Images

Isack Hadjar has been spotted walking around the Madrid paddock in the build-up to Spanish Grand Prix, but we still won't see the Frenchman back behind the wheel at Red Bull this weekend.

Hadjar is continuing his recovery from a fractured wrist he suffered during the summer break. So, just like at Zandvoort and Monza, Liam Lawson will step in for him again at Red Bull, while Yuki Tsunoda will substitute for the third time for New Zealander Lawson at Racing Bulls.

Esteban Ocon, Haas team-mate Oliver Bearman and home hero Carlos Sainz have all headed out early on the medium tyre. Actually, it's the yellow C3 compound across the board, with only Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto, who finished just outside the points in Monza, taking on the hards for his first few laps.

Mercedes' George Russell is putting his foot to the floor now - and he successfully navigates the daunting La Monumental. The Briton slows hard towards the end of the lap and as he exits the final corner, his opening time is a 1:45.035.

For the Madring's first outing as the Spanish Grand Prix, Pirelli has chosen the C2 as the hard, the C3 as the medium and the C4 as the soft tyre.

With no previous race data to go on, how the different compounds will react to the smooth tarmac in real time will be a discovery for all teams on the grid. Pirelli in its preview says the circuit ranks among the top five most demanding tracks for energy through tyres, with lateral forces similar to Barcelona and Silverstone.

La Monumental, the 550-metre banked corner with a 24% gradient, creates the highest vertical tyre load of the season.

Image source, Getty Images

We're all in this together. Good luck everybody.

First practice is green in Madrid and oh boy, is that pit lane looooooong.

BBC Sounds

Hola to Jennie Gow, Harry Benjamin, Alice Powell and Andrew Benson for this weekend's first trip to the Madring.

To listen to today's practice sessions, you can either click the 'listen live' tab at the top of the page, search for Sports Extra 2 on the BBC Sounds app if you're heading out for the day, or you can ask your smart speaker to "play Sports Extra 2".

Image source, Getty Images

The drivers gave their first impressions of the all-new Madring during Thursday's media session.

Carlos Sainz is a true home racer this weekend, and the Spaniard also serves as circuit ambassador. The Madrid-born Williams driver said it's going to be emotional when he heads out in a Formula 1 car, adding: "It looks like the track has a character that is charismatic, with a lot of different types of corners."

George Russell, while excited, said he would call it "a crazy circuit", highlighting the Madring "is arguably one of the most risky circuits of the whole calendar".

World champion Lando Norris said you need "big ..... " (you can fill in that word), while the other Spaniard on the grid, two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, likened the track to Saudi Arabia's Jeddah.

"It’s very technical, lots of kerb riding and a couple of high-speed sections where you need to get very close to the walls, which is very attractive and very high adrenaline for a driver," added Alonso.

Image source, Getty Images

If you're someone who likes an F1 corner to have a name and a meaning, then the Madring has a good selection for you.

• Hortaleza (Turn Three)- a fast right-hander named after the nearby Madrid neighbourhood
• Subida de las Carcavas (Turns Six and Seven) - uphill section meaning "The Ravines Climb" or "The Gullies Climb"
• El Bunker (Turn Eight) - named after real Spanish Civil War bunkers from La Mata Espesa that sit next to the track
• La Chicane (Turns 10 and 11) - quick right-left section designed to reduce speed so drivers can take La Monumental flat out
• La Monumental (Turn 12)- inspired by the shape of a bullring and is now the longest corner on the calendar
• Las Enlazadas de Valdebebas (Turns 14-16) - high-speed section of corners which leads into a heavy braking zone at Turn 17
• Norte (Turn 18) - fast left-hander named after the North Convention Centre on-site
• El Parque (Turn 22) - Final corner named after the scenic park: El parque Juan Carlos I

Matt Warwick
BBC Sport

Monumental. The corner everyone in F1 is talking about when discussing this race.

A 26-degree banked challenge, substantially longer than the one at the Dutch Grand Prix's Zandvoort. Monumental scythes through what will feel like a small town come race day.

It comes complete with a VIP viewing area that could house the King of Spain and his family and sits, appropriately, like a castle on top of the hill. The corner itself is a difficult structure to walk up, and in 44C heat, the tarmac is impossible to sit on.

"It's a real experience, not just to be in Madrid but for F1," says Luis Garcia Abad, Madring boss and former manager to Spain's only world champion Fernando Alonso, among other Spanish sports stars.

"Every part of the track has its own personality. Monumental… Turn 12, is huge, amazing.

"We really wanted to have an iconic part of the circuit – more than 30,000 people around one corner."

The word "challenge" has been said a few times since the design of the Madring was released, and judging by the multiple red flags during a two-day Formula 3 test recently, this could potentially be a chaotic weekend.

The Madring uses a mix of purpose-built track and public roads to create a similar concept to the Miami International Autodrome in Miami. There are 22 corners in total, with the one to watch being Turn 12, or 'La Monumental'. The banked corner offers a couple of different options for a racing line, and if a driver wants to go wheel-to-wheel with a competitor, this is the spot to do it.

There are plenty of heavy braking zones around the fast-flowing Madring, and the pit entry is located just before the final corner of El Parque.

Image source, Getty Images

Mercedes continue to lead Ferrari at the top of the constructors' championship, and with the Silver Arrows claiming a one-two in Monza, they are now 122 points ahead of the Scuderia in second.

McLaren in third and fourth-placed Red Bull are separated by 83 points after 13 rounds of the campaign, while Racing Bulls and Alpine are having a great battle for fifth spot in the midfield.

Both teams scored double points at the Temple of Speed, but it's Racing Bulls who hold an advantage a 13 points over French team Alpine.

Image source, Getty Images

Kimi Antonelli was the toast of Italy last weekend with his recovery drive from the back of the grid to the top step of the podium at Monza. The 20-year-old has extended his title lead over Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who finished second, to 66 points.

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton falls behind the Mercedes pair in third, but he is still 20 points clear of fourth-placed Lando Norris in the standings. Charles Leclerc had a miserable race in front of the tifosi, but even though he didn't score points, he still stays in fifth, 29 points free of Max Verstappen in sixth.

Polesitter Pierre Gasly managed to stay in the top 10 and bank six more points to add to his tally. The Alpine driver is 10th in the championship and 10 points away from catching ninth-placed Liam Lawson.

Image source, Getty Images

Before get going fully, there have been concerns about the Madring in the build-up to this Spanish Grand Prix and in the Formula 2 practice session early on, there was a red flag and lengthy stoppage after Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak crashed into the barriers at Turn 19 and his car caught fire.

Thankfully, the 20-year-old Thai driver escaped unharmed from the wreckage, and the marshals arrived on the scene quickly with fire extinguishers.

Lorraine McKenna
BBC Sport Journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Hello, folks. Formula 1 has arrived back in Spain for the second of two races in the country this season - and it's a return to the Spanish capital of Madrid for the first time since 1981.

Which team will come out on top at the 5.414km purpose-built Madring, now home to the 57-lap Spanish Grand Prix? This could be a tricky one to predict.

We left off at the Italian Grand Prix a few days ago with Italian Kimi Antonelli triumphing on home soil. The Mercedes driver won the race from 19th on the grid, and now holds a 66-point lead over team-mate George Russell in the drivers' championship.

Ferrari, meanwhile, left the Temple of Speed with more questions to answer, after another disappointing weekend outside of the podium places.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who was level with second-placed Russell in the standings before Monza, is now 10 points behind his former Silver Arrows team-mate - and 76 adrift of leader Antonelli - in third spot after finishing sixth.