Antonelli fastest in Spanish Grand Prix FP2 as Lindblad brings out red flag

Mercedes’ championship leader, Kimi Antonelli was the fastest driver in the second hour of practice beating both of the Ferraris in Free Practice 2 at the Spanish Grand Prix, in Madrid.

Feature image credit: Pirelli

Mercedes reigned victorious on the opening day of the re-designated Spanish GP as the first day of action in Madrid concluded with the Silver Arrows standing on top of the timing boards with a clean-sweep of fast laps.

Whilst George Russell topped the opening practice session, it was Antonelli who stood fastest in FP2, pipping both of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton – who finished second and third, respectively – by a tenth of a second.

The session also suffered its first red flag, after clearing the first hour without a problem, as Racing Bull’s Arvid Lindblad crashed heavily into the barrier at turn 13, half-way through the session.

George Russell tops debut practice at Spanish Grand Prix Madring

When the pit exit light turned green for the start of FP2, there was a queue once more at the end of the pit lane, and Haas’ Esteban Ocon was the first driver to head out onto the circuit. 

In a similar stance to Free Practice 1, the majority of the grid had opted to run the medium compound tyres for their opening stints of the hour, with Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg opting to start on the hard compounds. 

However, there was early drama. McLaren’s defending world champion, Lando Norris, was forced to pit from the session with complaints of his gearbox, claiming it produced a false neutral. He climbed out of the car as the McLaren mechanics pulled it apart.

The defending world champion would not return to the track for the session, leaving FP2 without a lap time set.

Antonelli had set the early pace of the session, with a 1m 34.428s lap around the new Madring, pipping Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 0.001s. However, the circuit continued to ramp up, and the quickening lap times remained constant. 

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Just before the session crossed into the half-way point, Piastri was the first to set a lap on the quicker soft compound tyres, with the rest of the field quickly following suit for qualifying runs. Leclerc was the benchmark to beat on the red-walled tyres, with a 1m 33.820s. 

However, the Monegasque was quickly dethroned by the championship leader, Antonelli, who managed to put in a 1m 33.662s lap, going 0.113 seconds faster than Leclerc as Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton rounded the top three. 

The red flag was brought out in the last 25 minutes, the first of the day, after Lindblad buried his car into the barrier at turn 13. The Briton had arrived into the corner and lost the rears of his car early on into the corner. 

As he tried to correct and stay on the track, he carried too much speed and crashed into the barrier. Thankfully, Lindblad was okay and was seen walking away from the incident. 

After 12 minutes, the session was resumed and there was a mix of soft and medium compound tyres in play for the final stint of the practice session, but there were no meaningful changes to the overall timing boards.

FP2 Classification

1. Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes – 1m 33.662s
2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +0.113s
3. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari +0.149s
4. Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls +0.228s
5. George Russell, Mercedes +0.337s
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing +0.401s 
7. Oscar Piastri, McLaren +0.538s
8. Yuki Tsunoda, Racing Bulls +1.096s
9. Esteban Ocon, Haas +1.205s
10. Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing +1.276s
11. Pierre Gasly, Alpine +1.297s
12. Nico Hulkenberg, Audi +1.398s
13. Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi +1.508s
14. Oliver Bearman, Haas +1.541s
15. Franco Colapinto, Alpine +2.224s
16. Carlos Sainz, Williams +2.629s
17. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin +3.118s
18. Alexander Albon, Williams +3.274s
19. Sergio Perez, Cadillac +3.533s
20. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin +3.611s
21. Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac +4.065s
22. Lando Norris, McLaren – No Time Set

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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.

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.