FP2 Report: Verstappen leads as Alonso edges closer in Barcelona
Max Verstappen asserted dominance at the Spanish GP second practice, but Aston's Fernando Alonso lurks just two-tenths of a second behind. Haas' Nico Hulkenberg delivered a surprise, taking third.
Max Verstappen’s mastery at the Spanish Grand Prix continues, as the Red Bull driver tops the timesheets in second practice.
Yet, Fernando Alonso in his Alpine F1 isn't far behind, narrowing the gap to a mere two-tenths of a second.
Surprisingly, Nico Hulkenberg of Haas has also emerged as a strong contender, posting the third-fastest time.
With the second practice session underway in favourable conditions, teams executed varied tyre strategies.
Red Bull, Aston Martin, and Mercedes chose to test the prototype Pirelli tyres due to be introduced at the British Grand Prix.
On the other hand, Ferrari took a different approach by initially running Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz on soft tyres.
Despite Ferrari’s early push with Sainz setting a time of 1’14.999 on the softs to briefly lead the pack, Verstappen responded.
After switching to mediums, he edged ahead by a small margin.
However, Sainz reclaimed his position with a fresh set of softs, beating Verstappen by nearly seven tenths of a second, only to be outpaced by teammate Leclerc by three-hundredths of a second.
Adding another exciting twist, Verstappen fitted another set of soft tyres and became the first driver to go under 1’14 for the day.
Alonso, also running on softs, made a remarkable push to move up to second place, albeit a tenth slower than Verstappen.
As the session progressed past the halfway mark, teams shifted their focus to longer, high-fuel runs.
However, no significant improvements were recorded in the final part of the session.
Verstappen remained at the top, Alonso held onto a strong second, followed by the day's surprise package, Hulkenberg in third.
Sergio Perez, in the second Red Bull, was fourth, followed by Esteban Ocon in his Alpine.
The Ferrari duo of Leclerc and Sainz secured sixth and seventh, respectively.
George Russell, despite facing issues with his Mercedes, managed to take the eighth spot ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Pierre Gasly, who completed the top ten.
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