Hamilton Tops the Second Friday Practice in Spain
Hamilton Leads the Way
Lewis Hamilton led the field in Friday’s Spanish free practice 2 session for the Spanish Grand Prix, putting his Mercedes on top of the timesheets. His best lap of 1:13.264 was just 0.022 seconds faster than Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who impressed in front of his home crowd at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Norris Sets Early Pace
McLaren’s Lando Norris was the fastest in the first practice session, clocking a time of 1:14.228, narrowly beating Red Bull’s triple world champion Max Verstappen by 0.024 seconds. Norris continued to show strong form, finishing third in the second session.
Verstappen and Gasly Surprise
Verstappen dropped to fifth in the second session while running on medium tires. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly delivered a surprising performance, securing the fourth fastest time, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who ended the session in sixth.
Mixed Results for Perez and Russell
Sergio Perez faced a mixed day, finishing fifth in the first session but falling to 13th in the second. Mercedes’ George Russell placed eighth in the second session after finishing fourth in the first session.
Closer Competition
The competition tightened significantly in the second session, with five different teams represented in the top five. Earlier in the day, four teams had filled the top four spots in the first practice. The gap between Hamilton and Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, who finished 10th in the second practice, was 0.660 seconds. In the first session, only 0.683 seconds separated Norris from seventh-placed Hamilton.
Sainz Shows Consistency
Carlos Sainz maintained consistent performance, securing third place in the first practice before improving to second in the later session. As Formula One heads into a triple-header of races on successive weekends, Sainz will be looking to leverage his upgraded Ferrari to deliver strong results.
Check out the full Spanish free practice 2 timesheet here.
Teams will be looking at the data from the two Friday session as they move on to Saturday. With one last practice run left before the all important qualifying session, the set ups have to be just right.
