Mercedes and Ferrari separated by a tenth
Kimi Antonelli ended Formula 1’s first day at the new Madrid circuit fastest, and the margins behind him were tiny. His 1:33.662 in second practice put him 0.113s clear of Charles Leclerc and 0.149s clear of Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes and Ferrari head into Saturday qualifying evenly matched.
George Russell had set the pace in the opening session. He bailed out of his qualifying simulation in the afternoon, never settled the car and dropped to fifth, 0.337s behind his team-mate.
Antonelli arrives in Spain off a win at Monza last weekend and holds a 66-point lead over Russell with ten rounds left in the season. Friday did nothing to slow him.
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Lindblad finds the wall at Turn 13
Drivers spent all week warning that the Madring would bite. F2 and F3 supplied several crashes and red flags earlier in the day. The Formula 1 field got through first practice clean, then Arvid Lindblad went off just past the halfway point of the second session.
The 19-year-old Briton had climbed to fourth and pushed harder on his next flying lap. He lost the Racing Bulls at Turn 13 and hit the barrier at speed. The red flag ran a little over ten minutes and ended the qualifying runs that were under way, which locked Antonelli at the top. Lindblad still held fourth when the session finished.
McLaren lose a session
Lando Norris managed two laps before a gearbox failure ended his afternoon without a time. He had won the two races before Monza, so McLaren expected to be quick in Madrid. Oscar Piastri was seventh, 0.538s down, and that is the only reference the team collected all day.
Losing a full session at a circuit nobody has raced on costs more than usual. Norris starts third practice on Saturday morning with half the data his rivals have. Max Verstappen was sixth, and the two Spaniards in the field had a quiet afternoon, Carlos Sainz 16th and Fernando Alonso 17th. Formula 1 races in Madrid on Sunday for the first time since 1981.
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