2018 F1 Spanish GP FP2 — Hamilton fastest, Red Bull close behind

Friday afternoon’s second practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix took place in temperatures closer to those expected for qualifying and the race. Teams switched between soft-tyre single laps, long runs and checks on new components. Grip improved as rubber was laid down on the track, so the morning’s gaps could not simply be extrapolated to the evening.

Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets with a 1:18.259, just 0.133 seconds ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, with Max Verstappen third. Sebastian Vettel was fourth and Valtteri Bottas fifth. The top five were covered by only 0.352 seconds, showing how closely matched the three upgraded leading teams were on single-lap pace.

Kimi Räikkönen was sixth, with Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen seventh and eighth. Haas had performed strongly during testing in Barcelona and continued to show front-running midfield pace on Friday. Race-distance running and tyre surface temperatures, however, remained important factors in judging its prospects for Sunday.

McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne was ninth and Fernando Alonso 12th, while the two Renault drivers were 13th and 17th. Sergio Pérez led Force India in tenth, with Esteban Ocon 11th. The midfield teams were separated by small margins, and a single mistake on a lap could cost several positions.

Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley were 14th and 18th respectively, with Toro Rosso still adapting to its updated bodywork package. Sauber’s Charles Leclerc was 16th and Marcus Ericsson 15th. Their lap counts and performances differed, leaving the team to assess tyre condition and traffic effects together.

Nico Hülkenberg completed a session-high 43 laps, Ricciardo 41 and Magnussen 39. Räikkönen completed 16 laps, the fewest in the field, while Ericsson completed 37. This result also provided the team with an important reference for subsequent set-up work and its strategy for the weekend.

Friday’s data showed that Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari all had the pace to fight for the front rows. Long-run testing would establish their respective tyre degradation, while Barcelona’s difficulty for overtaking made qualifying position particularly important. This result also provided the team with an important reference for subsequent set-up work and its strategy for the weekend.

Hamilton led the official FP2 results, with Ricciardo second and Verstappen third. Only 0.352 seconds separated first from fifth. The table below lists the fastest laps, gaps and completed laps of all 20 drivers, allowing a comparison of the teams’ Friday afternoon running.