Beautiful weather at the circuit today and that's how it is expected to be for the weekend. There's 0% chance of rain in this session.

Hot track, however, as it currently stands at around 47C.

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Red Bull's Max Verstappen speaking before first practice: "Hopefully, we can be more competitive here and it can be more similar to Imola. It's difficult to tell. I know the competition we have from other teams. I know what they are strong at. From us, we just have to see if we can balance the car or try put it in a nice window."

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It feels like the season is flying by as we are already onto the ninth race on the calendar.

The year has belonged to McLaren so far, winning six of the eight races we've had, while world champion Max Verstappen has taken two wins for Red Bull.

Lando Norris' momentum appears to be getting stronger after he secured pole position, fastest lap and race win in Monaco last-time out.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Barcelona

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Red Bull's Max Verstappen says his championship battle against the McLaren drivers this year "doesn't really feel like a fight".

The four-time champion is 25 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri after winning two of the first seven races.

That is the same number of victories as Lando Norris, Piastri's McLaren team-mate, who is three points behind the Australian.

But Verstappen implied that he did not have much hope of adding a fifth title in 2025.

"I just try to do my best, have a bit of fun out there," Verstappen said.

"I'm more excited if I know that we're going to be super quick. That's the most exciting. I always try to do my best, but this year so far it had some real positives, but of course also some negatives. With some races we are really off the pace, which is not enjoyable.

"That also doesn't mean that I'm enjoying it or loving it. I like it. Up until this point it's not going to be remembered forever."

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Victor Martins will make his Formula 1 debut in first practice today, coming in for Alex Albon at Williams.

French driver Martins, 23, was named best rookie in Formula 2 in 2024.

The other driver change sees Ryo Hirakawa in for Esteban Ocon at Haas.

McLaren's Lando Norris, who won in Monaco on Sunday, said his team were not worried about the regulation tweak.

"No, not at all," Norris said. There are little tweaks here and there but nothing that will change how we have to do anything."

Oscar Piastri added: "I've not run the front wing, but Lando's already run the front wing before this year, so we're confident.

"That's not our magic bullet. We don't have a magic bullet, but that's not our main strength."

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton criticised the decision to impose the stricter tests on the grounds that it would prevent teams from overcoming a fundamental issue with the aerodynamic behaviour of the current generation of cars, which tend to have a lack of front grip in the slow-speed corners, and too much in the high-speed

"The flexi-wing was a band-aid for a poorly designed technical regulation," Hamilton said. "It made this generation of car much nicer to drive. So it's going in the wrong direction, that's for sure."

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F1 is introducing stiffer tests on front wing flexibility at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, aimed at preventing teams deliberately exploiting wing flex to enhance aerodynamics.

Flexing front wings, with the use of clever carbon-fibre manufacturing techniques, helps teams balance the cars between high speed and low-speed corners.

They also boost top speed by 'backing off' on straights without compromising cornering performance, because the wing lifts up at lower speeds when the car is cornering.

Red Bull have been hoping the rule change - which means wings are allowed to flex less for a given amount of weight applied to them in a test by governing body the FIA - could hamper McLaren.

But Max Verstappen: "More has to happen for our side to have proper success. All will be a little impacted, some a little more than others, but it is not going to change the world.

"It will change the balance of the car probably a little bit. For us, not too much. I don't expect massive time gains or losses between the teams."

Flexi-wing, Lando Norris' momentum shift and Ferrari - some of things Harry Benjamin has picked out to look out for this weekend.

Here are the timings for today's action:

First practice: 12:30-13:30 (BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 3, BBC Sounds and smart speakers)

Second practice: 16:00-17:00 (BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 3, BBC Sounds and smart speakers)

Hello and welcome to our coverage of practice for the Spanish Grand Prix

Things are tight at the top of the drivers' standings as Oscar Piastri leads but his advantage is just three points over team-mate Lando Norris.

Then there's reigning world champion Max Verstappen, who is basically a race win adrift of Piastri.

It is, then, an interesting time to introduce a clamping down of a rule as leeway for flexible bodywork is reduced from 15mm to 10mm on the front wing and its flap.

It might sound a small change but for some it could make a big difference.

Or not.

Let's find out.

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The season so far has belonged to McLaren as their drivers sit second and third in the drivers' championship.

But could a new regulation being introduced this weekend have the potential to shake up the order?