FP2: Leclerc stays ahead as Mercedes "on the right track"

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F1 Grand Prix, GP Spain, Circuit de Catalunyaes

Hot conditions at 17:00 local time for second practice couldn't prevent Leclerc from remaining the fast around CIrcuit de Catalunya. The Ferrari driver though ended up not so happy with his session, stating a lot of work was needed ahead of Saturday's running.

After 4th and 6th positions in FP1 for Mercedes, the Silver Arrows continued to perform well as Russell and Hamilton slipped into second and third thanks to car updates that seem to do just what they were meant to do: fix the unexpected porpoising on straights and in higher speed corners.

Carlos Sainz was fourth fastest, a good three tenths down on his teammate. Verstappen had to settle for 5th after the qualifying simulation runs despite topping the times around halfway in the session when everybody was still focusing on medium tyre runs in preparation for the race.

Fernando Alonso was again comfortably in the top 10 in 6th, followed by Sergio Perez. The Red Bull driver had missed FP1 in favour of testing driver Vips so was perhaps a bit on the backfoot.

Vettel was nicely placed in 8th in the upgraded Aston Martin, followed by Ocon and Schumacher.

At the back of the timing sheet, Valtteri Bottas completed just 3 laps before something broke in his Alfa Romeo, forcing him to park the car. A puff of smoke came out of the back of the car on the main straight before the Finn reported the problem and moved into the grass.

McLaren's Lando Norris completed slightly more mileage, but it was over for him on lap 6 as well when he damaged the floor of his car by going off track, relegating him to watch the remainder of the session from the sidelines.

Results

Pos.No.DriverCarTimeGapLaps
116Charles LeclercFerrari1:19.67029
263George RussellMercedes1:19.787+0.117s27
344Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:19.874+0.204s26
455Carlos SainzFerrari1:19.990+0.320s31
51Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing Rbpt1:20.006+0.336s27
614Fernando AlonsoAlpine Renault1:20.203+0.533s26
711Sergio PerezRed Bull Racing Rbpt1:20.632+0.962s30
85Sebastian VettelAston Martin Aramco Mercedes1:20.703+1.033s31
931Esteban OconAlpine Renault1:20.745+1.075s27
1047Mick SchumacherHaas Ferrari1:20.757+1.087s25
1110Pierre GaslyAlphaTauri Rbpt1:20.917+1.247s28
1220Kevin MagnussenHaas Ferrari1:21.013+1.343s24
1318Lance StrollAston Martin Aramco Mercedes1:21.249+1.579s32
1422Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri Rbpt1:21.285+1.615s29
153Daniel RicciardoMcLaren Mercedes1:21.385+1.715s22
1677Valtteri BottasAlfa Romeo Ferrari1:21.828+2.158s3
1724Zhou GuanyuAlfa Romeo Ferrari1:21.866+2.196s30
1823Alexander AlbonWilliams Mercedes1:22.319+2.649s31
196Nicholas LatifiWilliams Mercedes1:23.197+3.527s25
204Lando NorrisMcLaren Mercedes1:23.388+3.718s6