2026 Spanish GP FP2: Antonelli answers Russell as Lindblad crashes

Kimi Antonelli set the pace in the second practice session for the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix, leading Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton after a late crash for Arvid Lindblad brought out the red flags.

Kimi Antonelli completed Formula 1’s first day at the Madring on top of the timesheets, producing a 1m 33.662s to beat Charles Leclerc by just 0.113s in Free Practice 2. Lewis Hamilton finished only 0.149s away from Antonelli in third, giving Ferrari two cars inside the leading three, while Arvid Lindblad took an impressive fourth for Racing Bulls despite crashing at Turn 13 late in the session. FP1 leader George Russell completed the top five, 0.337s behind his Mercedes team mate.

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Antonelli’s lap proved unbeatable after Lindblad’s damaged car triggered a red flag and interrupted the field’s qualifying simulations. Although the session resumed for its closing minutes, no driver managed to dislodge the 2026 F1 World Championship leader from first place.

2026 Spanish Grand Prix FP2 Results

2026 Spanish Grand Prix FP2, 11 September 2026

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1:33.662	24
2	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+0.113s	26
3	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+0.149s	23
4	41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	+0.228s	15
5	63	George Russell	Mercedes	+0.337s	25
6	3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+0.401s	22
7	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+0.538s	24
8	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Racing Bulls	+1.096s	26
9	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	+1.205s	26
10	30	Liam Lawson	Red Bull Racing	+1.276s	21
11	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+1.297s	21
12	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	+1.398s	22
13	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	+1.508s	25
14	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	+1.541s	26
15	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+2.224s	22
16	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+2.629s	25
17	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+3.118s	16
18	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	+3.274s	22
19	11	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	+3.533s	24
20	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+3.611s	20
21	77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	+4.065s	24
22	1	Lando Norris	McLaren		2

Drivers begin to explore the limits

With just three hours of practice available before qualifying at an entirely new circuit, every minute of Friday running carried extra value. All 22 drivers approached FP2 needing to build confidence, assess tyre behaviour and understand the rapidly evolving surface—all while respecting the unforgiving walls surrounding much of the Madring.

Fernando Alonso faced an immediate setback before the session had even begun. Aston Martin confirmed that a clutch problem, suffered following his practice starts at the end of FP1, would prevent the home favourite from joining the opening stages of the second hour.

Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman were the first drivers to leave the pit lane as the field headed out in high temperatures. The two Haas cars led a long queue onto the track before Russell, who had topped FP1 with a 1m 34.077s, established the early FP2 benchmark at 1m 36.011s.

That initial target did not survive for long. Ferrari continued the promising form it had shown earlier in the day on the Medium tyres, with Leclerc moving into first place before Antonelli completed his opening representative effort and went more than a second faster than the rest of the field.

Track evolution was substantial on the newly laid asphalt, making the timing screen change almost continuously. Leclerc soon reduced Antonelli’s advantage to only 0.001s, while Mercedes and Ferrari filled the first four positions at the end of the opening 15 minutes.

Ferrari quick, but final sector remains a weakness

Leclerc’s early pace placed Ferrari firmly in the fight at the front, but the team was giving away significant time through the final sector compared with Antonelli. That weakness left the Scuderia with an important area to investigate overnight, despite both cars ending the session within 0.149s of the fastest lap.

McLaren endured a more difficult hour. The team elected to change the gearbox on Lando Norris’ car, keeping the Briton in the garage and severely restricting his running. On the other side of the garage, Oscar Piastri reported a lack of rear grip as he attempted to build speed around the new track.

Piastri eventually improved after switching to the Soft compound, but his lap was surpassed by an eye-catching effort from Lindblad. The Racing Bulls driver had repeatedly looked strong through the opening sector and climbed to within two tenths of Antonelli before the session’s decisive incident.

Lindblad lost control of the rear of his car on the approach to Turn 13 and struck the barriers, bringing his first Friday at the Madring to a sudden end. The collision left his Racing Bulls damaged and forced race control to suspend the session while marshals recovered the car.

Antonelli holds first through the red flag

When running resumed, Antonelli remained at the head of the order courtesy of his earlier 1m 33.662s. The interruption left the drivers with little time to complete another serious qualifying-style attempt, ensuring the Mercedes driver ended Friday with the fastest lap.

Leclerc retained second place, 0.113s behind, with Hamilton a further 0.036s back in third. Lindblad’s time remained good enough for fourth despite his accident, putting him 0.228s off the pace and one position ahead of Russell.

Max Verstappen took sixth for Red Bull, followed by Piastri in seventh. Yuki Tsunoda recovered from the power-steering problem that had ended his FP1 running to secure eighth for Racing Bulls, while Ocon and Liam Lawson completed the top 10 for Haas and Red Bull respectively.

Pierre Gasly led the second half of the order in 11th for Alpine, finishing ahead of the two Audi drivers. Nico Hulkenberg placed 12th, with Gabriel Bortoleto 13th, followed by Bearman in the second Haas.

Franco Colapinto took 15th for Alpine, while Carlos Sainz was the leading Spanish driver in 16th at his home event with Williams. Alonso ultimately managed to join the action after his delayed start and finished 17th for Aston Martin despite losing valuable track time.

Alex Albon ended the hour in 18th in the second Williams, followed by Cadillac’s Sergio Perez and Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll. Valtteri Bottas was 21st for Cadillac, while Norris completed the order after failing to record a representative lap during his gearbox-interrupted session.

Everything still to play for

Antonelli’s fastest time was 0.415s quicker than Russell’s FP1 benchmark, illustrating how rapidly grip developed as the drivers accumulated mileage on the fresh surface. Yet the compact gaps at the front—with Antonelli, Leclerc and Hamilton covered by less than 0.15s—suggest Mercedes and Ferrari could be closely matched heading into the decisive stages of the weekend.

The teams will now study their Friday data, with particular attention likely to fall on tyre degradation, track evolution, Ferrari’s final-sector performance and the compromises required around a circuit that combines fast sections with tight, wall-lined corners.