Second Free Practice Report & Results 2026 Spanish F1 Grand Prix

Event: Spanish Grand Prix
Track: Madring circuit

Weather: Dry, sunny & clear 31°C / 87.8°F
Tarmac: dry 49°C / 120.2°F
Humidity: 11%
Wind: 3.8 km/h West
Pressure: 942 mbar

Antonelli Leads Ferrari Pair in Dramatic Madring FP2

Kimi Antonelli ended Friday on top at the Madring after beating both Ferraris in an eventful second practice session for the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver edged Charles Leclerc by 0.113s, with Lewis Hamilton another 0.036s behind, as Formula 1’s new Madrid circuit began to show its teeth in FP2.

provided the clearest evidence of that growing challenge. The Racing Bulls rookie had climbed to an impressive fourth before losing the rear at Turn 13 and crashing into the barriers, triggering the first red flag of Formula 1’s inaugural weekend at the Madring. Lando Norris endured an even more frustrating hour, completing only an out-lap and in-lap before a gearbox problem effectively ended his session.

Antonelli answers Russell with Friday’s fastest pace

George Russell had set the pace in FP1, but Antonelli responded emphatically when the field switched its attention towards qualifying-style runs in the second session.

Ferrari initially looked formidable. Leclerc led Hamilton by just 0.035s during the opening medium-tyre running before Antonelli edged ahead by the extraordinary margin of 0.001s. Once the soft tyres appeared, the fight at the front intensified further.

Leclerc produced a 1:33.820 to briefly return Ferrari to the top, only for Antonelli to immediately beat it by around a tenth and a half. Hamilton then displaced his team-mate before Leclerc ultimately reclaimed second, leaving the two Ferraris separated by only 0.036s at the end of the hour.

The result completed a strong opening day for Mercedes. Russell led the first session and Antonelli the second, while both drivers appeared comfortable in a car that looked comparatively composed through the Madring’s demanding mixture of corners.

For championship leader Antonelli, it was another statement after his spectacular Monza victory. The Italian’s 66-point advantage over Russell already gives him breathing room in the title fight, but his Friday pace in Madrid suggested there is little intention of easing off.

Ferrari quick but difficult to tame

Ferrari’s raw speed was impossible to ignore, although neither Leclerc nor Hamilton enjoyed a completely tidy session.

Both drivers suffered lock-ups and off-track moments as they searched for the limit, while Hamilton complained that he was struggling with the front end. The Ferrari appeared capable of matching Mercedes over a single lap, but considerably less forgiving when its drivers pushed beyond the sweet spot.

That leaves the Scuderia with an intriguing Friday-night problem. Leclerc and Hamilton finished within 0.149s of Antonelli and were closely matched with each other, suggesting the underlying pace is there. Finding a set-up that makes the car easier to exploit without sacrificing that speed could determine whether Ferrari can genuinely challenge Mercedes for pole.

With temperatures still extreme, tyre behaviour remains another complication. The track was at 53°C at the beginning of FP2 and only gradually cooled towards 50°C, while drivers continued to report overheating and degradation as the lap progressed.

Lindblad’s pace ends in the barriers

Racing Bulls had suggested before FP2 that there was considerably more performance to extract after running a conservative set-up earlier in the day. Lindblad quickly proved the point.

The rookie surged to fourth on the soft tyre and emerged as the fastest driver outside Mercedes and Ferrari, continuing an impressive first season. But his session ended abruptly when the rear stepped away at Turn 13.

Lindblad slid sideways into the barriers, making contact at both ends of the car and bringing out the red flags. He climbed from the cockpit unharmed, but Racing Bulls were left facing significant repair work overnight.

The crash also highlighted one of Friday’s clearest themes. As teams lowered ride heights and began chasing performance, the Madring became increasingly unforgiving. Liam Lawson had his own escape shortly before Lindblad’s accident, striking the wall with both the front and rear tyres after losing the back of his Red Bull but managing to continue.

FP1 had been unusually clean for a completely new street circuit. FP2 showed what happened once the drivers started removing the margin.

Norris loses almost the entire session

Nobody lost more useful Friday mileage than Norris.

The McLaren driver reported a serious gearbox problem almost immediately, describing false neutrals before returning to the garage. McLaren subsequently confirmed that the gearbox needed changing and attempted to get the reigning World Champion back onto the circuit, but the work could not be completed in time.

Norris therefore finished FP2 with only an out-lap and an in-lap to his name.

That is particularly damaging at the Madring, where experience remains in extremely short supply. While his rivals accumulated information on tyre behaviour, fuel loads, set-up changes and racing lines, Norris spent almost the entire session watching from the garage.

Oscar Piastri consequently had to shoulder more of McLaren’s data-gathering work. The Australian had several untidy moments of his own, including running across the Turn 5 and 6 section before later missing his braking point and using the escape road at Turn 7.

McLaren now face a busy evening trying to recover not only Norris’s car, but also the information they were unable to gather with it.

Traffic remains the Madring’s other major danger

If Friday established anything beyond the outright pace, it is that qualifying traffic could become chaotic.

Antonelli had to abandon a lap after encountering Sergio Perez, Tsunoda lost an attempt behind Hamilton, Fernando Alonso was baulked late in the session and Leclerc also found Perez in his way. With several blind approaches and limited places for slower cars to disappear, drivers repeatedly struggled to create clean space.

That problem will become considerably more serious when the entire field is simultaneously preparing qualifying laps on Saturday.

Hamilton again found himself involved in several of the day’s traffic complaints, although he immediately raised his hand in apology after delaying Tsunoda. The incidents were relatively harmless in practice; during qualifying, similar situations could carry grid penalties.

Problems spread through the field

Norris was not alone in losing valuable running.

Alonso began FP2 in the Aston Martin garage after a clutch problem developed during the practice starts at the end of FP1. He eventually joined the session but finished well down the order after missing a substantial portion of the hour.

Lance Stroll was then instructed to slow his Aston Martin late on after the team detected a problem in the data, while Max Verstappen reported that his steering had suddenly become heavier. Lawson also lost running towards the end of the session after what had otherwise been a solid afternoon for Red Bull.

Haas, by contrast, enjoyed further encouragement. Esteban Ocon again featured inside the top 10, adding weight to the team’s belief that its recent upgrade package should be more effective at the Madring than it had been on Monza’s low-drag layout.

Racing Bulls also showed genuine pace despite Lindblad’s accident, with Yuki Tsunoda joining his team-mate inside the top 10. Alpine were less convincing after their strong Italian grand prix weekend, with Pierre Gasly 11th and Franco Colapinto 15th.

Mercedes set the Friday benchmark

After two practice sessions, Mercedes leave Friday with the benchmark at Formula 1’s newest venue.

Russell topped FP1, Antonelli answered in FP2 and the championship leader looked particularly assured when the soft tyres went on. Ferrari, however, were close enough to suggest Mercedes have no room for complacency, while Racing Bulls produced perhaps the surprise pace of the day before Lindblad’s crash.

The second session also revealed just how narrow the margins are becoming as drivers begin to understand the Madring. Lindblad found the barriers, Lawson hit them and several others survived moments that could easily have ended differently.

Friday began with everyone learning Madrid’s new Formula 1 circuit. By the end of FP2, the field was already starting to attack it properly.

Antonelli finished that first day fastest. On Saturday, the margins are likely to become smaller still.

FP2 Times Table 2026 Spanish GP

The quickest sector times during this second practice session were:

• Sector 1: 28.822 sec by Arvid Lindblad with the Racing Bulls RB 04.
• Sector 2: 33.324 sec by Max Verstappen with the Red Bull RB22.
• Sector 3: 31.114 sec by Kimi Antonelli with the Mercedes W17.

There is no previous FP2 fastest lap time, as this was the first-ever Formula 1 practice session at the Madring. The fastest lap in this mornings FP1 was a 1:34.077 min, driven by George Russell in the Mercedes W17.

✅ Check out our 2026 Spanish F1 Grand Prix Preview.

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The Predictor F1-Fansite data model

Championship form and recent form. The starting grid joins in after qualifying, then the chances update.

1Kimi AntonelliMercedes · #1237%to win

2Max VerstappenRed Bull · #314%to win

3George RussellMercedes · #639.5%to win

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All 22 drivers: win, podium and points chances

#	Driver	Win	Podium	Points	Why
1	Kimi AntonelliMercedes	37%	80%	100%	P1 in the championship · 4 podiums in the last 5
2	Max VerstappenRed Bull	14%	46%	98%	P4 in the championship · 5 podiums in the last 5
3	George RussellMercedes	9.5%	32%	95%	P2 in the championship · 2 podiums in the last 5
4	Charles LeclercFerrari	8.2%	28%	93%	P5 in the championship · 1 podium in the last 5, 1 DNF
5	Lewis HamiltonFerrari	7.7%	29%	93%	P3 in the championship · 1 podium in the last 5, 1 DNF
6	Lando NorrisMcLaren	6.8%	23%	88%	P6 in the championship · 1 podium in the last 5, 1 DNF
7	Oscar PiastriMcLaren	3.6%	14%	74%	P7 in the championship · no podium in the last 5
8	Isack HadjarRed Bull	3.2%	11%	66%	P8 in the championship · 1 podium in the last 5
9	Liam LawsonRacing Bulls	1.6%	6.7%	47%	P9 in the championship · no podium in the last 5
10	Arvid LindbladRacing Bulls	1.2%	4.8%	36%	P11 in the championship · no podium in the last 5
11	Nico HülkenbergAudi	0.9%	3.4%	26%	P14 in the championship · no podium in the last 5
12	Pierre GaslyAlpine	0.8%	2.8%	25%	P10 in the championship · no podium in the last 5, 1 DNF
13	Esteban OconHaas	0.8%	2.5%	21%	P18 in the championship · no podium in the last 5
14	Franco ColapintoAlpine	0.8%	2.9%	22%	P12 in the championship · no podium in the last 5, 2 DNFs
15	Oliver BearmanHaas	0.7%	2.8%	22%	P13 in the championship · no podium in the last 5
16	Carlos SainzWilliams	0.5%	2.1%	16%	P17 in the championship · no podium in the last 5, 1 DNF
17	Gabriel BortoletoAudi	0.5%	2.0%	16%	P15 in the championship · no podium in the last 5, 1 DNF
18	Valtteri BottasCadillac	0.4%	1.4%	12%	P22 in the championship · no podium in the last 5, 1 DNF
19	Fernando AlonsoAston Martin	0.4%	1.7%	14%	P16 in the championship · no podium in the last 5, 2 DNFs
20	Lance StrollAston Martin	0.4%	1.4%	11%	P23 in the championship · no podium in the last 5, 4 DNFs
21	Alex AlbonWilliams	0.4%	1.4%	12%	P19 in the championship · no podium in the last 5, 3 DNFs
22	Sergio PérezCadillac	0.4%	1.3%	13%	P21 in the championship · no podium in the last 5, 1 DNF

Podium = chance of a top-three finish, Points = chance of a top-ten. Rounded; the win column adds up to 100%.

Season standings · 2026

PThe Predictormodel38 pts

1An Sionnach37 pts

2Shroppyfly37 pts

3Nobodysperfect31 pts

4Leopold Pleijsier28 pts

5Jere Jyrälä18 pts

6Casparovic16 pts

7ipeluri12 pts

8yhee10 pts

9Juandiez10 pts

10Kasra8 pts

11bearman's7 pts

12Mo6 pts

13Raceworks Media6 pts

14Rahmi Can6 pts

15Killabee6 pts

16Carlo6 pts

17MKL6 pts

18Sudhjd6 pts

19Tori Green6 pts

20Marcos Torres Barker6 pts

How the Predictor works

No bookmakers, no odds: every number comes from the F1-Fansite results database. Each driver gets a strength score from the factors below; the race is then simulated 10,000 times and we count how often each driver wins, finishes on the podium or scores points. It does not know about weather or reliability, and it says so. Grid penalties count as soon as the official starting grid is in.

60%Championship formPoints this season, relative to the leader.

40%Recent formThe last five finishes; a DNF counts as P20.

0%Starting gridHow often each grid slot has won over the last eight seasons. Joins after qualifying.

Before qualifying the model is honest about the odds: three or four candidates share most of the chance. After qualifying the grid takes over and the call sharpens.

12/17winners called

1.9/3podium drivers per race

2exact podiums

70prediction points

Calibration this season: when it said 7%, it happened 0% of the time; when it said 15%, it happened 7% of the time.

About the author

Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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