Hamilton emerged as the fastest driver in the second practice session at the Spanish Grand Prix, narrowly defeating Carlos Sainz from Ferrari to claim first place. The British driver, who has struggled to convert strong performances in practice into actual race results recently, recorded a time of 1:13.264s early on to take the lead. The session, like the first practice, was held under clear skies, allowing teams with upgrades to gather more data. Sainz initially topped the time sheet in his home country, with his teammate Charles Leclerc close behind in third place. However, Hamilton quickly responded with a lap that was 0.033s faster than Sainz’s, securing the overall fastest time. Sainz remained as the lead Ferrari driver in second place, while Lando Norris maintained his good form by finishing third, just 0.055s behind Hamilton. Pierre Gasly surprised with a fourth place for the rising Alpine team, with his teammate Esteban Ocon also performing well in ninth place. Max Verstappen, who had downplayed expectations of Red Bull dominance, finished fifth, 0.240s behind the leader. Oscar Piastri kept up with Norris’s pace until the final sector and finished in seventh place, while George Russell finished eighth, 0.458s behind Hamilton. Sauber, the only team yet to score points this season, received a small boost with Valtteri Bottas finishing tenth in the session. The two Haas cars were less than eight tenths of a second off Hamilton’s pace, but neither Kevin Magnussen nor Nico Hulkenberg managed to break into the top 10. Sergio Perez, seeking to recover from a difficult streak, encountered another setback as his time, posted after his rivals, placed him in 13th. Aston Martin’s performance was unremarkable, with home favorite Fernando Alonso finishing 14th and his teammate Lance Stroll four positions behind. The story was similar at Red Bull, with Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo finishing 15th and 16th, respectively, and Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu in 17th. Williams expected a weak performance, and Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant ended the session with the slowest times.