F1 Spanish GP Live Commentary and Updates – FP1 & FP2
Friday's action from the 10th round of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
F1 returns to Barcelona for the 34th race around the familiar Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The grand prix weekend marks the start of a slog for F1 personnel, with five events scheduled to take place across a six-week period.
After Max Verstappen and Red Bull returned to winning ways last time out in Canada, can McLaren, Ferrari or Mercedes put pressure on the reigning champions?
FP1 starts at 12:30pm BST (13:30pm local time) followed by FP2 at 4:00pm BST (5:00pm local time).
Live Standings
Summary
Live Text
Everybody now has a lap on the board in the session. All except for Piastri, Zhou and the Williams duo (each using hards) is on the medium tyre as they chip away at improving the set-up.
Norris's closest challenger so far is Russell, who couldn't get much closer really. He's less than a tenth behind Norris in second. But all eyes are on Logan Sargeant, who very nearly throws his Williams into the Turn 2 gravel trap with a massive snap of oversteer. Well held.
The first times are now on the board and, as he was in FP1, it's Norris currently sitting pretty at the top. The McLaren man posts a 1m14.197s to go eight tenths up on Hamilton.
We're getting a good look at some flow-vis paint being applied to the halo on Ricciardo's RB. He was covered in what can only be described as an opaque dust sheet to make sure none dripped on his gloves. Wonder if that is from your local Wickes or a special F1-spec alternative?
Now we are go for FP2 in Spain. Plenty of cars at the pit exit chomping at the bit to head out straight away.
Not long now until we're green for FP2. No chance of rain here - the skies are sunny and bright. Air temperatures of 24.9 °C and track temps of 44.1 °C will greet the drivers, who are by and large seated in their cockpits ready to go.
One driver who won't enjoy looking too much at the leaderboard from FP1 is Yuki Tsunoda, who brought up the rear of the order behind Haas stand-in Oliver Bearman, stepping in for Nico Hulkenberg. But the RB driver heads into the weekend with a 10-point advantage over his team-mate in the standings and with a fresh contract in his pocket. For subscribers, Oleg Karpov charts Tsunoda's journey to becoming a team leader here.
As we head into a triple-header that comprises visits to Austria's Red Bull Ring (I always have to correct myself when I start typing A1-Ring) and Silverstone, the annual silly season is expected to reach a new fever pitch as some of the key pieces of the puzzle may soon slot into place. Here's how things currently look with Carlos Sainz the cork in the bottle...
It's perhaps not as big a story, but not one that you hear every day - Lance Stroll has been reprimanded by the stewards, but not for anything he did on track. The Aston Martin driver was called up for not attending a fan engagement activity.
If you're just joining us today, then the big news of the day concerns Alpine appointing former Renault Formula 1 team boss Flavio Briatore in an advisory role, 14 years after he resigned for his part in Crashgate. The development is certainly one that will provoke plenty of comment as the team seeks to forge a path back up the grid. Here's what we know so far.
First practice earlier today was headed by Lando Norris for McLaren, ahead of Max Verstappen's Red Bull. Carlos Sainz was third for Ferrari ahead of the leading Mercedes driven by George Russell.
Good afternoon everybody, and welcome back to Autosport's live text coverage of FP2 from the Spanish Grand Prix. The second one-hour practice session starts in a little over 20 minutes.
That's that for FP1 coverage. Thank you for joining us over the past hour or so.
We will be back for FP2, but until then, check out the full report here!
Not many hands have been shown in that session, other than Verstappen and Norris being as fast as ever.
Mercedes looked like it had a smooth hour of running, whilst Sainz underlined Ferrari's pace with a good lap on mediums.
Norris tops the session with a 1m14.228s with a time four-tenths up on last year's best FP1 time, set by Verstappen.
His personal best a year ago was a 1m15.7s, just to underline the steps taken by McLaren in the last 12 months.
The chequered flag is out to end FP1.
Bearman has done a fine job in the Haas, just two-tenths down on Magnussen's best time.
With the long-runs taking place, there has been little change to the top 10 in the last quarter of the session.
It means Norris will take honours when the chequered flag flies in a minute.
More issues related to a clutch, this time for Verstappen.
"The clutch keeps anti-stalling."
Team-mate Perez removes a tear-off from his visor and it gets stuck on his rear-wing - not ideal for aero performance.
Gasly: "I got something wrong with the car. Box, I can't drive at all."
That's a concern at Alpine as the Frenchman returns to the garage.
Six minutes remain in the session and the Aston Martin drivers are nose-to-tail on their runs, before Alonso pulls over to let others by and find a gap.
Both are on softs, which goes against the grain at this stage.
As practice programmes are, there are different things going on at different teams.
Leclerc is back on track after a check-over and joins Sainz on mediums, with the Mercedes drivers also on mediums.
Russell: "Why have you put us on track at the same point."
"That's a good question," is his reply. Thanks guys!
Leclerc: "There was something strange with the clutch when I came in."
There was a clunk as he stopped in the Ferrari pitbox, and he has asked his team to check for an issue.
As I said earlier, lap times are not representative in this session, but Alonso and Stroll are not looking overly competitive in the Aston Martins.
The Spaniard is ninth and the Canadian 14th, separated by two-tenths.
Three drivers not to reappear as yet are Hamilton, Albon and Sargeant.
The image shows just why the red flags were needed.
But at least the delay wasn't too lengthy and drivers can get their laps in before the end of the hour.
We are quickly back to green, but that scuppered some run plans as drivers had been on their out-laps.
Just under 20 minutes left in the session.
It seems to be a flap from the front wing of Alonso's Aston Martin.
That fell off far too easily when driving over the exit kerb.
There is a large piece of debris just off the racing line on the exit of Turn 9.
That brings out the red flag.
Ocon has posted a fine lap for Alpine to get within a second of the fastest time.
His medium tyre run is good enough for seventh, two-tenths down on Hamilton directly ahead.
Norris is on the softs as well, let's see what the McLaren can do...
A 1m14.228s puts him 0.024s faster than Verstappen.
A scary moment for Tsunoda as he encounters a slow-moving Mercedes out of Turn 9.
Russell: "I don't know what Tsunoda was doing there. I pulled to the right and he aimed for me."
Albon goes sixth on a set of mediums, which impressively is faster than Ricciardo on softs.
Bearman goes eighth with a set of softs.
Verstappen posts a lap three-tenths up on Sainz, also running the softs.
Replays show Hamilton going slightly deep into Turn 10, which accounts for the 0.158s gap to team-mate Russell.
Perez has gone second now, but on a set of soft tyres.
Hamilton, on mediums, goes fourth.
Russell dips into the 1m14s to go fastest but he is immediately beaten by Sainz, with a 1m14.572.
By: Autosport Staff
