Spanish GP: Verstappen fastest in FP2 one-tenth ahead of Alonso
2nd June 2023Red Bull’s Max Verstappen put in the fastest lap on the board, in Free Practice 2 of the Spanish Grand Prix, 0.170s faster than Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
How the second practice unfolded…
In a similar fashion to FP1, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso headed the queue out of the pit lane, equipped with the new prototype tyre. However, unlike FP1, a handful of drivers followed the Aston Martin driver with the prototype driver whereas the remainder opted for a medium or soft tyre run.
Equipped with the medium compounds, Verstappen – in the usual fashion – topped the timing table after the first 20 minutes, 0.031 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. However, it wasn’t long before the Dutchman was demoted to second fastest after Sainz topped the leaderboard, by 0.694s over Verstappen, with a fast soft tyre run.
The reigning world champion soon retaliated with a soft tyre run of his own with a 1:13.907 lap which was 0.367 seconds faster than Sainz. Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg (second), Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (third) and Leclerc (fourth) separated Verstappen from the Spaniard who was demoted to fifth-fastest.
How the field shaped up after 30 minutes:
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull (1:13.907)
- Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
- Esteban Ocon, Alpine
- Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
- Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
- George Russell, Mercedes
- Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
- Pierre Gasly, Alpine
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
- Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo
- Kevin Magnussen
- Nyck De Vries, Alpha Tauri
- Yuki Tsuonda, Alpha Tauri
- Alexander Albon, Williams
- Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
- Logan Sargeant, Williams
- Sergio Perez, Red Bull
- Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
- Lando Norris, McLaren
- Oscar Piastri, McLaren
In the last 15 minutes, Verstappen remained at the top of the table ahead of Alonso and Hulkenberg as the rest of the field completed their next personal best laps on the soft tyres.
At the other end of the field, the Williams duo stood as the slowest drivers out on track with Sergeant at the bottom of the field, 1.5 seconds off Verstappen’s best time, behind both Stroll (18th) and Albon (19th).
The top three after the chequered flag fell in FP2:
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull
- Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
- Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
That’s all for the article: Spanish GP: Verstappen fastest in FP2 ahead of Alonso!
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
