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Formula 1
Spanish GP
F1 Spanish GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2
Updates from F1 Friday practice at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
After a week break, F1 returns to action back in Europe for the Spanish GP.
Charles Leclerc leads the F1 drivers’ standings by 19 points from Max Verstappen following the Dutch driver’s Miami GP victory last time out, as Ferrari heads the teams’ standings by just six points from Red Bull.
An extensive range of upgrades have been delivered by almost every F1 team, which could shake-up the pecking order as teams push on with the development of the new cars.
Opening practice for the Spanish GP gets underway at 1.00pm BST (2.00pm local time), followed by second practice which starts at 4.00pm BST (5.00pm local time).
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Vips just set two purple microsectors on his latest lap, but he's backed out of it. Still, nice little footnote in the session.
Checkered flag
And here's the chequered flag! Is anyone going to improve at the last chance?
Doesn't look like it - that's Leclerc on top from Sainz by 0.079s, from Verstappen. Russell is fourth from Alonso, with Hamilton sixth.
De Vries was about a tenth quicker than Latifi in that session, as Vips was P20 having not gone for an out-and-out hot-lap.
Breaking news
Here's the report from FP1: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-spanish-gp-leclerc-leads-ferrari-1-2-in-fp1/10307349/
We'll take a bit of a break, but we'll be back a little bit later for FP2. See you shortly!
Hello once again! Who is ready for some more F1 practice action?
FP2 gets underway in 15 minutes, so in that time we’ll quickly recap what’s happened between the practice sessions.
Breaking news
Red Bull has reacted to the FIA clearing Aston Martin over similarities in its F1 car design and says any IP transfer would be "a serious concern". Here's the full story: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/red-bull-transfer-of-ip-in-aston-martin-f1-design-would-be-a-serious-concern/10307446/
Here's a selection of other key talking points during the break:
Switching focus back to FP2, a trio of driver changes to flag: Zhou, Albon and Perez are back in their respective cars after Kubica, de Vries and Vips took part in FP1. The rest are as you were.
Sun
Barcelona track conditions are toasty, with air temperature touching 31oC and track temp above 45oC at present. That's Miami levels of heat.
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All the F1 drivers are getting comfy in their cockpits, so it is almost time for the track to get busy.
Green flag
Here we go!
Albon leads the way out of the pits, making up for lost time having sat out FP1 to make way for de Vries, followed by Schumacher and Vettel.
Norris's McLaren has been flooded with flow-vis paint before being sent out of the pits which will keep an eye on the performance of one of the 10 upgrades the Woking-based team has for this race.
17 F1 drivers on the track now, leaving just Bottas, Alonso and Ricciardo left in the pits. Do they know something we don't?
Stopwatch
Verstappen leads the first runs with a 1m20.932s on the mediums, 0.046s quicker than Sainz.
Leclerc loses time in the final sector due to traffic and a slide through the chicane, meaning he slots into third place 0.063s off Verstappen.
Norris takes a trip through the gravel at Turn 7 after carrying too much speed through the corner. He recovers well but that's his tyres ruined for this run.
Stopwatch
All 20 drivers have now set a lap time, Bottas the last to do so in FP2, with the Finn slotting into sixth with a 1m21.828s.
Quote
After completing that lap Bottas comes to an sudden halt at Turn 1. "Something's broke," he reports over team radio. He's not wrong.
Mechanical problem
Bottas parks his Alfa Romeo on the inside of the corner which allows the Spanish track marshals to collect the car and push it behind the barriers.
A Virtual Safety Car period was called when Bottas's car was being retrieved, which has just finished, but during it Sainz and Albon had a disagreement after a close call at Turn 2. Thankfully no harm done.
The TV camera drone is back in action, floating around the inside of the third sector, to track the cars around the tight final few corners.
A Norris vs Schumacher incident at Turn 13 had been noted but on review the stewards state it needs no further investigation. Meanwhile the Sainz vs Albon near-miss has also been noted.
Norris, who is having an eventful FP2 so far, runs wide on the exit of Turn 9 and flicks up some dust and gravel. The McLaren driver avoids any further trouble but he might have picked up minor damage in that half-off.
That Sainz vs Albon near-miss at Turn 2 will be investigated after the session by the FIA stewards.
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Stopwatch
Lots of drivers switching to the soft tyres now, with Aston Martin's Vettel going top with a 1m20.703s, displacing the Red Bull of Verstappen. That'll go down well.
Stopwatch
Verstappen duly replies on the softs with a 1m20.006s to reclaim top spot - some 0.697s quicker than Vettel.
Stopwatch
Sainz disrupts the Aston Martin vs Red Bull battle to go top with a 1m19.990s - much to the delight of the home fans.
Leclerc, FP1's timesheet-topper, is now on his prep lap for his soft tyre run. Let's see what he can do.
Stopwatch
It is a very good lap by Leclerc who goes top with a 1m19.670s - some 0.320s quicker than his Ferrari team-mate Sainz.
During that flurry of fast laps, a Turn 4 impeding incident between Stroll and Tsunoda had been noted by race control but after a review the stewards deemed no investigation was needed. Play on.
Russell has slotted into second place overall with a 1m19.787s for Mercedes. That's interesting, Merc upgrades at work or the best of the track conditions - or a bit of both?
Stopwatch
Hamilton is next up in the bid for top spot and goes third overall with a 1m19.874s - a tenth off team-mate Russell and two-tenths off leader Leclerc.
"Every time we touch the throttle we are sideways," Gasly reports over team radio. That sounds pretty concerning but we'll assume he means traction issues coming out of corners rather than literal lateral direction changes.
The earlier trip through the gravel by Norris appears to have damaged his new floor, as the McLaren mechanics take it off his car and march it to the back of the garage.
By: autosport.com
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