Leclerc Ends Friday on Top as Mercedes Finish Close Behind

Charles Leclerc ended Free Practice 2 the same way he ended the morning session, on top. The championship leader demonstrated strong pace at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, in what were scorching conditions.

The Monegasque driver ended the day with just over a tenth of an advantage, from none other than both Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team drivers. George Russell occupied second whilst Lewis Hamilton delivered in third. Both Scuderia Ferrari and Mercedes have brought a large upgrades package to the Spanish Grand Prix, which so far seems to be working for them both.

Mercedes’ drivers found themselves in a Ferrari sandwich at the end of the opening day, as Carlos Sainz Jr finished the first day at his home Grand Prix in fourth. Oracle Red Bull Racing appear to have some work to do, and certainly some pace to find, Max Verstappen ended day one in fifth whilst Sergio Pérez was down in seventh spot.

In Verstappen’s defence, the Dutchman was top following the drivers medium tyre runs, before slipping down the order when everyone fitted the soft compound. The more experienced Spaniard on the grid, Fernando Alonso, kept his Spanish compatriot in good company after ending Friday in sixth-place, just two tenths behind Sainz.

Pérez did well Friday afternoon to get up to speed quickly, the Mexican didn’t feature in the morning session as Formula 2 driver Juri Vips got an opportunity to drive the RB18. The biggest talking point of the weekend so far is the new green Red Bull, the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team introduced some substantial upgrades on the first day of running in Spain, with the car now having a very similar design to Austrian side.

Sebastian Vettel put his AMR22 in eighth-place, to wrap up a promising start to the weekend for the four-time World Champion. Esteban Ocon and Mick Schumacher rounded-up the top ten.

Elsewhere, there was disappointment for Valtteri Bottas, the Finnish driver pulled to the side of the circuit having just completed two laps. The Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN driver suffered from a technical issue, yet still ended the day faster than Guanyu Zhou. The Chinese driver was another not to feature in the morning session, he was replaced by Robert Kubica.

It was a frustrating day for the McLaren F1 Team and Scuderia AlphaTauri. Lando Norris sat out the majority of the afternoon after running-off circuit and damaging his floor, whilst Pierre Gasly complained about traction issues in his AT03.

Williams Racing, however, were the biggest strugglers on day one, with both Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi at the bottom of the leaderboard. Albon sat out the morning session, after Nyck de Vries took his spot in the rising Spanish sun. De Vries did manage to finish ahead of Latifi in the opening Free Practice session.

Full Spanish Grand Prix Free Practice 2 Results: