Formula 1 championship leader Oscar Piastri kept McLaren on top in second Spanish Grand Prix practice on Friday after teammate and title rival Lando Norris set the pace in the opening session.
The Australian lapped the Circuit de Catalunya with a quickest time of 1:12.760 after Norris, winner in Monaco last Sunday, set a best of 1:13.718 in the early afternoon heat.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, last year’s winner, was second and third respectively in the sessions with Mercedes’ George Russell Piastri’s closest rival in practice two — 0.286 slower — with Norris fourth (+0.310)
Norris has closed the gap to Piastri in the standings to only three points after eight of 24 rounds and will retake the lead on Sunday if he wins.
Verstappen, who took his first F1 win at the circuit in 2016, missed some 20 minutes of the first session with mechanics working to change the car’s rear suspension.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton — winner a record-equalling six times in Spain — was third on the timesheets in practice one but only 11th later on when teammate Charles Leclerc was fifth fastest.
Friday was the first sighting of the new front wings required to meet stricter flex tests introduced for the Spanish weekend, but there was no immediate indication of any significant change.
“I think it’s going to take more than one session to see if there is an impact. Or if so, how it’s affected the different cars,” Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said.
“It didn’t sound from the drivers’ comments too different to a normal Friday.”
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli was sixth fastest in practice two with Aston Martin‘s Fernando Alonso seventh and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly eighth.
Racing Bulls duo Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson ended up ninth and 10th on the timesheets.
The first session featured two young drivers gaining experience, with French F2 driver Victor Martins replacing Alex Albon at Williams and Japanese Ryo Hirakawa for Esteban Ocon at Haas.
