Lewis Hamilton set the pace as he finished fastest during the second practice session of the Spanish Grand Prix on Friday afternoon.
The seven-time produced blistering speed on his soft tyre runs which was enough to see him finish 0.22 seconds clear of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jnr while Lando Norris, who was fastest in first practice, took third in his McLaren.
Pierre Gasly was a surprise fourth for Alpine while reigning world champion Max Verstappen could only manage the fifth-fastest time, 0.240 seconds off Hamilton’s pace
Charles Leclerc was sixth in the second Ferrari, ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Mercedes’ George Russell, Esteban Ocon’s Alpine and Valtteri Bottas’ Sauber completed the top 10.
A positive first day on track in Barcelona 💪
Lewis leads the way in P1, with George in P8. pic.twitter.com/YrQeKSHwJu
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) June 21, 2024
Reflecting on the session, Hamilton said: “The car was feeling great today. Doesn’t feel like we are too much off. I won’t take too much notice of lap times but the car is definitely in a better place and we’ll see if we can hold on to the Ferraris and Red Bulls and McLarens.
“We have a much better idea of where we want to go. You’re starting to see it in how comfortable we are as drivers in the car.”
Hamilton finished seventh in the first practice session and will hope to impress in Saturday’s third and final practice session before qualifying gets underway for the main race on Sunday.
