FP2: Norris pips Russell to set Friday benchmark in second Barcelona practice

Lando Norris set the benchmark in a demanding and grip‑limited second practice session at the Circuit de Barcelona‑Catalunya, leading George Russell and Oscar Piastri by just 0.057 seconds as the competitive picture for the Barcelona‑Catalunya Grand Prix began to take shape.

After seven regular drivers stepped aside for rookies in FP1, all 22 full‑time competitors returned for the second one‑hour session, which immediately highlighted the evolving track conditions and the challenges posed by tyre wear.

Max Verstappen was among the first to demonstrate the improved grip levels, nearly matching Russell’s FP1 benchmark despite running on the hard compound.

His 1:16.452 underlined how rapidly the circuit had rubbered in since the early afternoon, even as the four‑time World Champion continued to battle with a Red Bull that lacked stability on the harder tyre.

Piastri then became the first driver to break into the 1:15s, producing a 1:15.724 on the medium compound while Verstappen struggled for traction and balance. Russell also found the limits, suffering a snap of oversteer through the long Turn 3 right‑hander that forced him briefly into the run‑off before he recovered and climbed to second, two tenths behind Piastri.

A brief Virtual Safety Car interruption arrived around the 20‑minute mark when Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls machine came to a halt at the pit‑lane exit. Once the car was cleared, Verstappen was the first to switch to soft tyres as the field transitioned into qualifying simulations.

However, even on the softest compound he could only move up to third, still half a second shy of Piastri’s earlier medium‑tyre time, as others began to unleash their own performance runs.

Charles Leclerc briefly split the McLarens by moving into second place, but Russell soon reclaimed the top spot with a 1:15.435, while his Mercedes team‑mate Kimi Antonelli — returning to the cockpit after sitting out FP1 — slotted into fourth, five tenths behind.

Piastri responded by closing to within 0.048 seconds of Russell, but the decisive lap came from Norris. Having also missed FP1, the reigning World Champion delivered a 1:15.426 on soft tyres, edging Russell by just 0.009 seconds and holding the fastest time until the chequered flag.

Behind the leading trio, Leclerc finished fourth ahead of Antonelli, with Verstappen sixth after a session spent wrestling with grip issues. Arvid Lindblad impressed once again for Racing Bulls, finishing ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto’s Audi.

Lewis Hamilton could manage only ninth, reporting that “something’s wrong with the rear of the car,” while Isack Hadjar — who had missed FP1 — completed the top ten.

Nico Hülkenberg led the midfield in eleventh for Audi, followed by Ollie Bearman’s Haas, Lawson, Sainz’s Williams and the two Alpines of Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly. Esteban Ocon placed seventeenth ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who lost the early part of the session to an ECU issue. Alex Albon and Sergio Pérez completed the order, with Pérez receiving a warning after a near‑collision with Hadjar at Turn 4.