FP2: Piastri tops the timesheets ahead of Russell and Verstappen during second practice in Spain

Oscar Piastri ended Friday at the Spanish Grand Prix on top after setting the pace during second practice, the McLaren driver and championship leader leading the way by nearly three-tenths from Mercedes’ George Russell and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

After the other papaya car of Lando Norris topped the timesheets by three-tenths in the first practice hour, the drivers returned to action for FP2 at 1700 local time amid hot and humid conditions, with Esteban Ocon amongst the first to head out after handing his Haas over to Ryo Hirakawa in FP1.

FP1: Norris sets the pace from Verstappen and Hamilton during first practice in Spain

Franco Colapinto was also early out at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the Alpine team having fixed a hydraulic issue on his car that brought the Argentine’s running in first practice to a premature end.

It was a busy start to the hour, with some jostling for position in the pit lane taking place as all 20 drivers made an appearance within the first few minutes of the session, the majority running the medium C2 tyres.

While Norris set an early benchmark, Haas’ Ollie Bearman suffered a spin that sent him through the gravel at Turn 3, though the Briton fortunately managed to return to the track. The incident kept him in the garage for some time afterwards, however, giving him a lower lap count than others in the session.

Elsewhere, an unhappy Isack Hadjar branded the traffic as “a joke”, with the stewards subsequently noting Colapinto for potentially impeding the Racing Bulls machine before deciding that no further investigation was needed.

HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the action from FP1 in Spain as Norris sets early pace over Verstappen

Another driver irked by traffic issues was Fernando Alonso, who voiced his frustration at the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton for seemingly disrupting the start of his flying lap. “We have the hero of the day in front of us,” the Aston Martin man remarked.

Russell had set the pace after the first third of the session, the Briton going quickest thanks to his effort of 1m 13.046s to lead a Mercedes 1-2 from team mate Kimi Antonelli as the squad look to recover from a challenging weekend last time out in Monaco.

As the hour neared its halfway point and focus switched to the soft-shod Qualifying simulations, the action picked up further as Norris missed out on beating Russell’s benchmark by less than three-hundredths – and incredibly set the exact same time as Verstappen, the pair both recording a lap of 1m 13.070s.

Soon afterwards it was the turn of Piastri to go fastest after pumping in a 1m 12.760s, putting him nearly three-tenths clear of Russell. Ferrari, meanwhile, looked to be having a tricky session, with Charles Leclerc seen sliding during his flying run while Hamilton lingered in P11 some eight-tenths off the pace.

With attentions turning to longer runs during the final third of FP2, Piastri’s time remained on top through to the end of the session, the McLaren driver heading Russell and Verstappen. The latter had a bit of a moment in the final minutes after taking a tow from Leclerc – before the Ferrari then sped up to avoid running in another car’s dirty air, prompting a sarcastic laugh from the Red Bull driver.

EXPLAINED: Everything you need to know about the Spanish Grand Prix front wing Technical Directive

Norris, meanwhile, remained in fourth on that identical time to Verstappen, the Briton placing behind due to setting his lap later than the Dutchman. Leclerc was the lead Ferrari in fifth, ahead of Antonelli in sixth and home favourite Alonso in seventh.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly followed up his top-10 appearance in FP1 by taking eighth in second practice, with the Racing Bulls pair of Hadjar and Liam Lawson following in ninth and 10th respectively.

Six-time Spanish Grand Prix winner Hamilton had to settle for 11th, while Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda and the Williams duo of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon covered 12th through to 15th. Behind them were the Aston Martin of Stroll (P16), Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto (P17), Ocon (P18), Bearman (P19) and Colapinto (P20).

With Friday’s running now complete, the drivers and teams will look over their data before returning to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the third and final practice session on Saturday at 1130 local time, ahead of Qualifying later in the afternoon.