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Kimi Antonelli set the benchmark in second practice for the Formula 1 Tag Heuer Gran Premio de España, going fastest for Mercedes on Friday at Madrid’s new Madring circuit as round 14 of the 2026 season got under way. Charles Leclerc followed for Ferrari, 0.113 seconds off the pace, with teammate Lewis Hamilton a further 0.036s back in third. It reversed the morning order, where George Russell had topped FP1 ahead of Antonelli.
Red Bull’s afternoon carried mixed signals: Max Verstappen classified sixth after reporting his steering had gone heavier, while Liam Lawson was tenth after also clipping the wall in the same passage of laps as the session’s biggest incident, though he was able to continue.
That incident belonged to Arvid Lindblad. The Racing Bulls rookie had been running fourth on a soft-tyre run when he lost the rear and crashed, triggering a red flag that halted the session while marshals cleared his car and reset the barriers. Lindblad radioed “I’m sorry everyone” before climbing out unaided and walking away.
Lando Norris missed most of the hour for McLaren with a gearbox issue, costing the team a full read on the new track. Fernando Alonso’s running was disrupted by clutch problems and repeated traffic, including being baulked at Turn 12, while Lance Stroll was told to slow the car and nursed an ailing Aston Martin back to the pits from Turn 17 late in the session. Oscar Piastri ran wide at Turn 7, spinning back onto the circuit without contacting the barriers.
Williams team principal James Vowles said the Madring layout was proving tough to read, noting the car lacked the rear-end stability to give drivers full confidence. The session resumed at 17:47 local time to complete the remaining running ahead of Saturday’s qualifying.
Official session data: Formula 1
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