FP2: Hamilton tops the Mercedes-dominated afternoon session

F1 Grand Prix, GP Spain, Circuit de Catalunya

Mercedes confirmed their unbeatable form once again this afternoon as Lewis Hamilton pipped Valtteri Bottas in the second practice for the Spanish Grand Prix with Max Verstappen ending the session over eight tenths of a second hehind.

Lando Norris set the first timed lap in the afternoon session with a 1m19.260 following a fairly low-keyed first session for McLaren. For the first run, most of the drivers preferred the medium and the hard compound with which they intended to complete a race simulation in the second half of the session.

On his first set of mediums, Lewis Hamilton posted a lap time of 1m17.970 to be six tenths of a second faster than his team-mate Valtteri Bottas who chose the white-walled rubber for his first run. Following his strong showing in the qualifying session at Silverstone, Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo was quick again at the start of the afternoon session at Barcelona, setting encouraging early pace.

Max Verstappen was sent out fairly late by Red Bull for his opening running in FP2, but when he joined the track, he immediately showed his willingness to continue where he left off at Silverstone just a couple of days ago. The Dutchman went second fastest, using Pirelli’s medium rubber.

The Milton Keynes team’s London-born driver Alex Albon was struggling again on lower fuel load, being a full second slower than Verstappen on the very same tyre compound.

Bottas became the first driver to put on the soft compound to complete a qualifying simulation. The eight-time race winner took over the lead from his team-mate, registering a time of 1m17.170. That lap time was four tenths of a second slower than what Bottas set in the morning session, showing that the higher ambient and track temperatures affecting the cars negatively.

On his fresh soft compound, Hamilton went fastest, going 287 thousands of a second quicker than Bottas. In the meantime, Romain Grosjean set the third fastest lap, indicating that Haas was in a better shape than in the previous four rounds. Verstappen was again late with his qualifying simulation. Although the Dutchman was fast through the first sector, his lost over eight tenths of a second to finish the session third fastest.

Ferrari did not have the same pace as they had in the morning session with Leclerc finishing behind Grosjean in sixth place and Vettel ending the practice down in 12th spot.