Practice report
Formula 1 Spanish GP
F1 Spanish GP: Kimi Antonelli leads tricky second practice as Arvid Lindblad crashes
The championship leader tops Friday running on F1's return to Madrid, as Lindblad is the first F1 driver to hit the barriers on the series' inaugural visit to the hair-raising Madring circuit
Filip Cleeren
Edited: Sep 11, 2026, 5:01 PM
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Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: Alex Bierens de Haan / LAT Images via Getty Images
Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli topped second practice at Formula 1's Spanish Grand Prix, pipping Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on Friday afternoon at a hot and challenging Madring circuit.
Antonelli set the fastest lap around the halfway mark in the second one-hour session as drivers and teams gradually kept chipping away at their set-ups on the extremely difficult circuit in Madrid.
The 5.4km track, a hybrid of street portions and a purpose-built loop featuring several high-speed corners, proved tricky to tame from the outset. And with runoff virtually non-existent, teams made a conservative start to the weekend in first practice, sacrificing optimal lap time as drivers settled into a rhythm and built up muscle memory.
Some of those training wheels started to come off in FP2, although lap times didn't take as much of a tumble as first thought, despite the improving grip levels.
Championship leader Antonelli led the early running on medium tyres with a 1m34.428s effort, which was soon beaten by Red Bull's Max Verstappen as drivers visibly had their hands full both keeping their cars out of the walls and finding clear air through the narrow, concrete-lined roads.
Turn 17's right-hander proved particularly tricky as several drivers went wide on exit, triggering a track limits offence.
Lando Norris ended the session in the garage with gearbox issues
Photo by: Alex Bierens de Haan / LAT Images via Getty Images
Antonelli soon reclaimed the lead with a 1m33.926s lap, with FP1 leading team-mate George Russell within a tenth.
The session went into overdrive at the halfway mark as the majority of drivers switched to the fastest soft-tyre compound, which is proving a handful to keep within optimal temperature ranges as the constant lateral loads are working Pirelli's rubber extremely hard.
Antonelli set the tone once more, the championship leader stopping the clocks after 1m33.662. Russell didn't immediately find an answer, with Ferrari duo Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc slotting into second and third, and Racing Bull's Arvid Lindblad an eye-catching fourth.
But shortly thereafter, Lindblad's day came to a screeching halt as he slid into the barriers in Turn 13, a medium-speed left-hander. Lindblad escaped unharmed as the session was red-flagged with 25 minutes to go, with track marshals rushing to undo the British rookie's TecPro barrier realignment.
Partly due to the interruption, there were no further moves at the top, confirming Antonelli's lead ahead of Ferrari duo Leclerc and Hamilton. Behind fourth-placed Lindblad, Russell and Verstappen were fifth and sixth, with Oscar Piastri first of the McLarens in seventh after a difficult day for the reigning world champions.
Piastri's team-mate, world champion Lando Norris, disappeared into the garage after just two laps with a transmission issue, forcing McLaren to change gearbox.
Arvid Lindblad also had to set out most of the session
Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images
Yuki Tsunoda, who makes his third appearance of the season as Isack Hadjar continues to recover from his wrist injury, was eighth in the Racing Bulls car, with Haas driver Esteban Ocon and Red Bull's Liam Lawson completing the top 10.
As expected, it was a quiet start for crowd favourites Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso, finishing 16th and 17th respectively. Alonso faced a delayed start to the session as Aston Martin repaired a clutch issue.
Photos from F1 Spanish GP - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
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Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
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Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Spanish Grand Prix - Friday
Formula 1
50
F1 Spanish GP: FP2 Results
All Stats
Cla Driver # Chassis Engine Laps Time Interval Tyres km/h 1
A. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes
12 
Mercedes Mercedes 24
1'33.662
S 208.092 2 C. Leclerc Ferrari 16
Ferrari Ferrari 26
+0.113
1'33.775
0.113 S 207.842 3 L. Hamilton Ferrari 44
Ferrari Ferrari 23
+0.149
1'33.811
0.036 S 207.762 4 A. Lindblad Racing Bulls 41
RB Red Bull 15
+0.228
1'33.890
0.079 S 207.587 5 G. Russell Mercedes 63
Mercedes Mercedes 25
+0.337
1'33.999
0.109 S 207.346 6 M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 3
Red Bull Red Bull 22
+0.401
1'34.063
0.064 S 207.205 7 O. Piastri McLaren 81
McLaren Mercedes 24
+0.538
1'34.200
0.137 S 206.904 8 Y. Tsunoda Racing Bulls 22
RB Red Bull 26
+1.096
1'34.758
0.558 S 205.686 9 E. Ocon Haas F1 Team 31
Haas Ferrari 26
+1.205
1'34.867
0.109 S 205.449 10 L. Lawson Red Bull Racing 30
Red Bull Red Bull 21
+1.276
1'34.938
0.071 S 205.296 11 P. Gasly Alpine 10
Alpine Mercedes 21
+1.297
1'34.959
0.021 S 205.250 12 N. Hulkenberg Audi 27
Audi Audi 22
+1.398
1'35.060
0.101 S 205.032 13 G. Bortoleto Audi 5
Audi Audi 25
+1.508
1'35.170
0.110 S 204.795 14 O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 87
Haas Ferrari 26
+1.541
1'35.203
0.033 S 204.724 15 F. Colapinto Alpine 43
Alpine Mercedes 22
+2.224
1'35.886
0.683 S 203.266 16 C. Sainz Williams 55
Williams Mercedes 25
+2.629
1'36.291
0.405 S 202.411 17 F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14
Aston Martin Honda 16
+3.118
1'36.780
0.489 S 201.388 18 A. Albon Williams 23
Williams Mercedes 22
+3.274
1'36.936
0.156 S 201.064 19 S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team 11
Cadillac Ferrari 24
+3.533
1'37.195
0.259 S 200.528 20 L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18
Aston Martin Honda 20
+3.611
1'37.273
0.078 S 200.368 21 V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team 77
Cadillac Ferrari 24
+4.065
1'37.727
0.454 S 199.437 22 L. Norris McLaren 1
McLaren Mercedes 2
M View full results
Read Also:
Formula 1Why Charles Leclerc isn't using latest ADUO2 engine in the Spanish GP
Formula 1“I f***ed up quite a lot”: How Yuki Tsunoda discovered the complexity of F1 2026 at Monza
Formula 1What F1's risky Madrid bet needs to get right in order to pay off
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