Spain – Free Practice 2: Hamilton leads ahead of the Red Bull

23°C in the air, 36°C on the track, conditions are more than suitable for this second session.

First on track, Grosjean sets the initial time at 1:21.454, but on his second flying lap while improving, he loses control of his Haas entering turn 7 and ends up in the gravel trap. Session over for him, he triggers the virtual safety car.

⚠️ Virtual Safety Car

GRO: “Oh fudge… I think I'm stuck in the gravel mate” 😕

Grosjean is beached at Turn 7#F1 🇪🇸 #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/qJkKCkPqbU

— Formula 1 (@F1) 11 mai 2018

Once the virtual safety car is withdrawn, the chase for the fastest lap resumes. Vettel takes the advantage with a 1:19.421 shortly before Verstappen steals the spotlight with a 1:19.050. The top 5 after this first round consists of Verstappen, Bottas, Vettel, Hamilton, and Ricciardo.

Wearing medium tires, Alonso is within a tenth of Ricciardo for 6th, ahead of Pierre Gasly, who confirms the form of Toro Rosso on Catalan soil. In his first flying lap, Räikkönen moves up to 5th place, pushing these three opponents down by one position.

Shunned this morning, the super-soft tires are still ignored this afternoon. At the end of the first half-hour of the session, Vandoorne finally takes to the track and completes a lap in 1:20.617, placing him 13th.

Après 30 mins des essais libres 2 du #SpanishGP 🇪🇸, @LewisHamilton détient le meilleur temps devant @danielricciardo et @Max33Verstappen

Il reste 1h des essais libres 2 du #SpanishGP en direct sur CANAL+SPORT pic.twitter.com/kW5OdC1n1r

— La F1® sur CANAL (@LaF1SurCanal) 11 mai 2018

The performances seem to be tightening within the top 3 teams. The top six are within less than 7 tenths of each other. Even better for the rest of the top 10 after some improvements, Magnussen, Pérez, Vandoorne, and Alonso are within 1 and a half tenths. Ocon in 11th is less than 2 tenths behind Alonso.

Perplexed by the behavior of the car and the tires this morning, Hülkenberg manages to extract something from his RS18 with the super-softs and places it in 11th position, 1.9s off Hamilton’s time. Sainz remains stuck in 16th position.

Like other drivers this morning, Räikkönen takes a trip into the gravel trap of turn 4 but manages to get out. This excursion doesn’t discourage the stoic Iceman who goes back on the attack the following lap, before easing off.

A brief trip to the gravel for the Iceman 😬

But Kimi gets it back on track#F1 🇪🇸 #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/3wHHsMlTT0

— Formula 1 (@F1) 11 mai 2018

A few laps later, the Scuderia driver is instructed by his race engineer to cut his engine. A slow-motion shot on the back straight shows a cloud of smoke escaping from the rear of the Ferrari, accompanied by an unusual sound over the microphone. He manages to reach his pit in neutral.

Good news for Grosjean who can get back on the track. Fitted with super-softs, he goes after the lap time. The Frenchman jumps from the bottom of the table to climb to 7th place, in the same tenth as Magnussen. For the rest of the field, it’s time for long stints and race simulation.

The yellow flag is out again in the second sector, Leclerc took his Sauber into the gravel trap at turn 4. He ends his simulation stint by returning to the pits at the end of the lap.

As the final ten minutes approach, the virtual safety car is announced once again. Pérez’s Force India is immobilized between turns 9 and 10 due to a poorly fastened front left wheel.

The marshalls trying to shift that @ForceIndiaF1…#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/BNB8MIrW8A

— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) 11 mai 2018

The final ranking at the end of the session:

FP2 CLASSIFICATION@LewisHamilton on top, with @redbullracing breathing down his neck

This could get interesting 👀#F1 🇪🇸 #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/y0TkWzFVnq

— Formula 1 (@F1) 11 mai 2018