Oscar Piastri was fastest in second practice for the Spanish Grand Prix, the McLaren driver set a 12.760 to put himself just over a quarter of second ahead of George Russell. McLaren was expected to be strong this weekend as Barcelona rewards high speed and downforce despite several teams bringing upgrades this weekend.
Piastri set his fastest time at the halfway point on the soft tyres after teammate Lando Norris was pushed down to fourth by Russell and Max Verstappen as third who was a quarter of a tenth behind as set the same lap time as the setting the Mercedes. Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari fifth just under two tenths off Norris and nearly four hundredths ahead of Kimi Antonelli.
Ahead of the weekend there had been much speculation about whether McLaren would have been hampered by the new technical directive, designed to further restrict the flexibility of the front wings. But they remain three-tenths ahead of their nearest rivals Mercedes and Red Bull.
Verstappen missed the first twenty minutes of the session as the team worked on the rear suspension of his RB21. As had been the case in FP1, McLaren failed to secure a one-two, with George Russell showing encouraging pace for Mercedes to take second, albeit almost three-tenths of a second back from Piastri.
On the race runs, Verstappen and Norris set the pace on the medium-compound tyres, the Dutchman appearing to have a very narrow advantage. McLaren and Red Bull therefore look closely matched on a weekend that marks the introduction of a rule change aimed at clamping down on the flexibility of front wings.
But it will be hard to judge the impact of the test because relative form has swung depending on circuit characteristics this year. At similar circuits in Suzuka, Jeddah and a fortnight ago in Imola
Mercedes showed an encouraging pace despite being three tenths off the pace but it could only go within three-tenths. Leclerc was exactly half a second off the outright pace set by Piastri, but Ferrari looked to struggle to find a balance in the car, Lewis Hamilton eleventh after describing his Ferrari as “undrivable.”
Ferrari had hoped the new technical directive would have had a significant impact, but team principal Fred Vasseur’s claims of a possible “gamechanger” looked to be well wide of the mark on Friday.
Antonelli was three thousandths faster than Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard still yet to score points in his worst start to a season since 2001. Pierre Gasly put his Alpine eighth going nearly a tenth ahead of the two Racing Bulls with Isack Hadjar nearly a tenth ahead of teammate Liam Lawson.
Hamilton missed out on the top ten by four hundredths as he was six hundredths ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg with the second Red Bull Yuki Tsunoda. Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon were almost a tenth and a quarter behind, as the two Williams drivers set identical lap times as they went over a tenth ahead of Sauber of Gabriel Bortoletto.
Esteban Ocon was a tenth ahead of his Haas teammate Ollie Bearman, who had the most dramatic moment when he lost control of his Haas at Turn Three, spinning into the gravel and ultimately doing well to regain some control of his car and avoid the barriers. Franco Colapinto completed the field.
Related
- SPANISH GP – Lando Norris fastest by three and a half tenths in first practice
- Welcome to the Spanish Grand Prix
