2024 Spanish Grand Prix: Friday Photo Gallery

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in the second practice session for the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix, narrowly edging out local favourite Carlos Sainz by just over two hundredths of a second. Lando Norris, who had topped the first practice session, took third place.

Early in the second hour of practice, George Russell, Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, led on Medium tyres, setting a target time of 1:14.197, slightly ahead of Norris.

Meanwhile, championship leader Max Verstappen struggled with his Red Bull, complaining about the RB20’s handling, specifically its instability on exits and understeer in mid-corner. “This car doesn’t bite,” he relayed to his team.

The session saw a switch to Soft compound Pirelli tyres around its midpoint. Williams’ Logan Sargeant kicked off the qualifying simulations, improving his best time from 1:16.748 on Hard tyres to 1:15.070 on Softs, moving up to seventh. His teammate, Alex Albon, also switched to Softs and secured P6 with a time of 1:14.807.

Sainz was the first among the frontrunners to switch to Softs, clocking a time of 1:13.286 to take P1. Charles Leclerc, Sainz’s Ferrari teammate, couldn’t match this time and ended up 0.311s behind. Norris then moved into second, just 0.033s off Sainz’s pace, pushing Leclerc down to third.

Verstappen, after making adjustments to his car, set the fastest times in the first and third sectors on his Soft tyre run. However, he lost three tenths in the middle sector and was positioned in P3. Hamilton then delivered a stellar lap of 1:13.264, securing the top spot, just two hundredths ahead of Sainz.

As teams shifted focus to longer runs, Sainz and Norris remained in second and third, respectively, with only 0.055s separating the top three. Verstappen’s slower middle sector relegated him to fifth, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly edging him out.

Leclerc finished the session in sixth place, followed by Oscar Piastri in seventh. Russell took eighth, while Esteban Ocon ensured a strong session for Alpine with the ninth fastest time. Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top ten for Kick Sauber.