Kimi Antonelli topped second practice for the Spanish Grand Prix, completing a Mercedes clean sweep of Friday’s Madring practice running and leaving the championship leader as the man to beat on Formula 1’s first visit to Madrid.
Antonelli heads Leclerc in Madring practice
Antonelli’s 1m33.662s on the soft tyre edged Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc late in a session that never quite settled. Team-mate George Russell, who had led FP1 that morning, was within a tenth of the Italian’s earlier medium-tyre benchmark, and Max Verstappen spent a spell on top before the switch to softs reshuffled the order. Oscar Piastri ended the day fifth as McLaren struggled for performance relative to its rivals.
The 5.4km Madring is a hybrid of street sections and a purpose-built loop with several high-speed corners, and with runoff virtually non-existent the teams began the weekend conservatively. Some of that caution lifted in FP2, though lap times did not tumble as far as expected despite the improving grip. Turn 17’s right-hander caught out several drivers, who ran wide on exit and picked up track limits offences.
Not everyone escaped. Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad became the first driver to hit the barriers at the new circuit, a shunt that ended a session in which he had been genuinely quick — he reckoned afterwards that his team had been “P4 on merit”. Lando Norris, meanwhile, finished the day parked in the garage with gearbox trouble, having been unable to complete a single long run.
Mercedes long runs look ominous
The single-lap order flatters the field. On race-simulation pace, Russell was the fastest driver on heavy fuel, with Verstappen the closest challenger at just 0.13s per lap adrift once tyre compounds and stint lengths were accounted for. Antonelli was third on long-run pace, 0.55s off his team-mate. Ferrari and McLaren were nowhere: both Ferraris were around nine tenths a lap slower than Mercedes, and Piastri a full 1.51s.
The rest of the grid may take little comfort from recent history. At Monza a week ago Mercedes looked level with Ferrari in Friday’s long runs and only two tenths clear of McLaren — then went eight tenths a lap faster than both on Sunday. The Silver Arrows habitually show less on a Friday than their rivals do.
There are caveats. Madrid is brand new, so larger setup changes than usual should be expected overnight, and the single-lap picture is tighter than the timing screens suggest: add together each driver’s best sectors and Leclerc could theoretically have produced a 1m33.478s, quick enough for top spot. Of the fastest six, only Lindblad actually strung all his best sectors into one lap.
A title lead that keeps growing
Antonelli arrives in Madrid on a remarkable run. The 20-year-old came from 19th on the grid to win at Monza, becoming the first home driver to take victory there in 60 years, and stretched his advantage over Russell to 66 points. Sky Sports commentator David Croft used the week to argue that Antonelli is ahead of even Verstappen’s curve: “He’s doing things earlier than Max. He’s going to be a younger world champion than Max was.”
The drivers’ early verdicts on the Madring were broadly positive, if wary. “Honestly, it’s more difficult than some tracks,” Piastri said. “There’s a lot of sections here where you’re not really brushing up against the walls, you’re kind of turning or heading at them and then you need to avoid them.” Leclerc was more enthusiastic, calling it “a challenging street track, which is the type I usually enjoy”.
Our FP1 report on Russell’s morning benchmark has the earlier picture. Session detail and long-run analysis via Motorsport.com.
