Until the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League, Lewis Hamilton led a highly competitive free practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix. The session saw five different cars within a quarter of a second at the top of the standings. Hamilton’s lap, set later in the session, was over six tenths faster than the reference time in FP2 in Barcelona in 2023. This represented a significant improvement for Mercedes compared to last year. His time of 1m13.264s included the fastest final sector and allowed him to secure first place by just 0.022s over Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari.
Lando Norris, who had set the pace in FP1, finished in third place, just 0.033s behind Hamilton. Pierre Gasly impressed with a fourth place for Alpine, while championship leader Max Verstappen completed the top five.
Verstappen, who conducted a test in the Red Bull car from 2022 earlier in the week, reported some handling issues with his RB20 during FP2. Despite this, he managed to stay close to the McLarens and Sainz’s Ferrari during long-run simulations at the end of the session. Verstappen used the medium C2 tires, while Norris, McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, and Sainz opted for the softer C3 tires.
Mercedes drivers Hamilton and George Russell focused on long-run laps, with both clocking times between 1m19s and 1m20s. Alpine drivers Gasly and Esteban Ocon expressed concerns about their performance in Barcelona but ended the day with both cars in the top 10. Gasly’s impressive effort was supported by Ocon’s ninth fastest time.
Sergio Perez had a challenging session, performing a second stint with medium tires before attempting a qualifying simulation. However, he only managed the 13th fastest time, behind the Haas duo, Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg. Aston Martin also struggled, with Fernando Alonso just one hundredth of a second ahead of Perez.
The Red Bull cars had a disappointing session, finishing 15th and 16th. Yuki Tsunoda, slightly faster than teammate Daniel Ricciardo, complained about the handling of the car during his long lap. The Williams cars, which switched to soft tires early on, were the slowest in FP2. Alex Albon finished 19th, 1.543s behind the pace, with teammate Logan Sargeant even further behind.
