After a rather calm first session, the second free practice session of the Spanish Grand Prix was ultimately interrupted by a red flag following the exit of the Racing Bulls of Arvid Lindblad.
Read more Sergio Pérez is caught speeding twice in 13 minutes and is already costing Cadillac dearly in Madrid
Kimi Antonelli set the best time in FP2 of the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
The session was interrupted by the first real accident of the weekend, with Arvid Lindblad ending up in the barriers at turn 13.
Lando Norris, for his part, barely drove due to a gearbox problem.
Antonelli replaces Russell
After the best time of George Russell in FP1, Mercedes again finished at the top of the standings Friday afternoon at the Madring. This time, it was Kimi Antonelli who was the fastest, confirming the excellent start to the weekend for the German team on the new Madrid circuit.
Russell had however immediately taken the lead at the start of the session, before being displaced by Charles Leclerc on Medium tires. Max Verstappen then set an interesting reference, but his time was canceled for exceeding track limits at turn 17.
After about twenty minutes, Antonelli took first position. At that moment, almost the entire field was running on Mediums, Nico Hülkenberg being the only exception.
Norris stopped by a gearbox problem
Lando Norris’s session quickly turned into a nightmare. The reigning world champion encountered a gearbox problem on his McLaren MCL40 during his installation lap and immediately returned to his garage.
McLaren ultimately had to replace the entire gearbox, preventing Norris from returning to the track for the rest of FP2. The Brit thus lost a particularly valuable hour on a completely new circuit.
Read more Charles Leclerc penalized by his Monza accident: Ferrari forced to revert to an old engine
Fernando Alonso also experienced technical difficulties at the start of the session. Aston Martin mechanics had to intervene on the clutch of his AMR26, delaying his program.
Lindblad first driver to get caught out
Arvid Lindblad, for his part, quickly showed great comfort. Once the Soft tires were fitted on his Racing Bulls, the Briton got within just over two tenths of Antonelli’s reference time.
Mid-session, he was even the best-placed driver in the Red Bull group, ahead of Verstappen and Liam Lawson. But this confidence ultimately cost the young driver dearly. With 25 minutes remaining, Lindblad lost the front of his car at turn 13 before ending his run against the barriers.
The incident caused the first red flag of the F1 weekend at the Madring, after FP1 had gone accident-free. The session only resumed with 13 minutes to go before the checkered flag, leaving little time for drivers to complete their qualifying simulations on Medium or Soft tires.
Towards a Mercedes-Ferrari battle
Antonelli ultimately kept first place until the end of the session. Lewis Hamilton finished second ahead of Charles Leclerc, also confirming the good pace shown by Ferrari since the start of the weekend.
Despite his accident, Lindblad retained a remarkable fourth position, while Russell completed the top 5.
Mercedes thus ends the first day of the Madring with the best time in each of the two sessions, Russell having dominated FP1 before Antonelli took over in FP2. Ferrari remains very close, while McLaren will mainly have to make up for lost time after the technical problems encountered by Norris.
Read more Otro Capital can now sell its shares in Alpine: towards the return of Christian Horner?
FP2 results of the 2026 Spanish GP F1:
