Autobayng News Team
Lando Norris was quickest in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya – though it was the first session the McLaren driver participated in this weekend.
The world champion returned to the cockpit of his MCL40 which Formula 2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli occupied during the first hour of running. His best time of 1’15.426 was almost a second quicker than the best time seen in pre-season testing at the track in January.
Following their sub-par showing in Monaco, McLaren looked more at home around the medium-to-high speed sweeps of the Spanish circuit. However Mercedes were a close match on pace: George Russell lapped just nine thousandths of a second off Norris, a few hundredths ahead of the second McLaren.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, back in his Mercedes after Frederik Vesti drove his car the first session, was half a second off his team mate and had to settle for fifth place behind Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.
Max Verstappen was almost nine tenths of a second off the pace in his Red Bull. Isack Hadjar took 10th in the team’s sister car, the pair separated by Arvid Lindblad, Gabriel Bortoleto and Lewis Hamilton.
The track surface temperatures remained well over 40C and the tyres clearly started to struggle over the long runs at the end of the session. Hamilton asked race engineer Carlos Santi where others were struggling with degradation and was told they were losing around three tenths of a second per lap.
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2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix second practice result
| P. | # | Driver | Team | Model | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL40 | 1’15.426 | |
| 2 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | W17 | 1’15.435 | 0.009 |
| 3 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL40 | 1’15.483 | 0.057 |
| 4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | SF-26 | 1’15.799 | 0.373 |
| 5 | 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | W17 | 1’16.015 | 0.589 |
| 6 | 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Red Bull-Ford | RB22 | 1’16.321 | 0.895 |
| 7 | 41 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls-Red Bull-Ford | 03 | 1’16.411 | 0.985 |
| 8 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | R26 | 1’16.611 | 1.185 |
| 9 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | SF-26 | 1’16.631 | 1.205 |
| 10 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull-Red Bull-Ford | RB22 | 1’16.674 | 1.248 |
| 11 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | R26 | 1’16.934 | 1.508 |
| 12 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas-Ferrari | VF-26 | 1’16.945 | 1.519 |
| 13 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls-Red Bull-Ford | 03 | 1’16.967 | 1.541 |
| 14 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Williams-Mercedes | FW48 | 1’17.020 | 1.594 |
| 15 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine-Mercedes | A526 | 1’17.051 | 1.625 |
| 16 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Mercedes | A526 | 1’17.260 | 1.834 |
| 17 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas-Ferrari | VF-26 | 1’17.538 | 2.112 |
| 18 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac-Ferrari | MAC-26 | 1’18.225 | 2.799 |
| 19 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | FW48 | 1’18.790 | 3.364 |
| 20 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac-Ferrari | MAC-26 | 1’19.261 | 3.835 |
| 21 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Honda | AMR26 | 1’19.286 | 3.860 |
| 22 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Honda | AMR26 | 1’19.459 | 4.033 |
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2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix
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Published by
Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 – when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring journalist, Keith began running the site full-time in 2010, achieving a long-held ambition to dedicate his full attention to his passion for motor racing. View all posts by Keith Collantine
