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Formula 1 Spanish GP

F1 Spanish GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2

Friday's action from the seventh round of the 2023 Formula 1 season.

The grid clears ready for the start

F1 heads to its seventh round this weekend and the second in a double-header after last weekend's Monaco Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen overcame a sudden downpour in the principality to claim his fourth Formula 1 victory of 2023, beating Fernando Alonso by 27.9 seconds.

He now leads the standings by 39 points from Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, with Alonso in third heading into his home race.

Several teams have brought upgrades to this weekend's round at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, including Mercedes and Ferrari.

FP1 starts at 12:30pm BST on Friday, with FP2 at 4pm BST.

Live Standings

Stopped

Summary

  • Summary

    • Verstappen topped FP2 for F1's Spanish GP from Alonso and Hulkenberg
    • The Red Bull driver was 0.17s quicker than Alonso
    • FP1 ended with a Red Bull 1-2 as Mercedes struggled to reach the top 10
    • FP3 takes place at 11.30am BST on Saturday

  • Leaderboard

    1. Verstappen, Red Bull
    2. Alonso, Aston Martin
    3. Hulkenberg, Haas
    4. Perez, Red Bull
    5. Ocon, Alpine
    6. Leclerc, Ferrari
    7. Sainz, Ferrari
    8. Russell, Mercedes
    9. Bottas, Alfa Romeo
    10. Gasly, Alpine

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And with that, it's time to bring things to a close. As ever, thank you for joining us and we hope to see you on tomorrow for FP3 and qualifying. 

Until then, you can catch up on all the action from FP2 with Autosport's session report!
Lance Stroll also appeared to struggle for pace with the Aston Martin upgrades, ending the day in P18. His team-mate, Alonso, was P2...
After initially sitting in the top four, Albon dropped back to the rear of the field to join Sargeant on, were this qualifying, the back row of the grid.
Hulkenberg, however, is the standout driver of the session with the German placing his Haas third, bettering Perez's effort for Red Bull!
Double-delight for Verstappen as he completes a clean sweep on Friday in Barcelona.
Checkered flag
That's the Friday running over!
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"Deployment is all over the place." - Alpine will need to take a look at the ERS system of Ocon's car before the curfew hits later this evening.
Not wanting to leave Sargeant alone in the on-track battling, Piastri is now all over the gearbox of Alonso - the Aston Martin driver placing his car in the middle of the track to block the Australian.
Into the final five minutes we go. All 20 drivers continue to circulate. Radio transmissions are not currently being shared, but we suspect there may be more than a few complaints about a lack of grip and overheating tyres!
Sargeant is really practising a race run, pulling out of the tow from Hulkenberg and going wheel-to-wheel into the first corner. 
That's the kind of action we want to see!
The skies have suddenly darkened massively. Was Russell simply teasing us with the lure of rain?
Rain
Russell reports, "Some very light rain drops at Turn 9." 

Were we wrong to say that the track would remain dry?
It does also feel like we may be overselling the domination of Red Bull in this session, with less than one second covering the top 17!
Clouds are once again beginning to bubble up around the circuit but don't fear - or get too excited - because they are not expected to break during the next 12 minutes!
The work on Perez's car can't have been as sinister as was thought, with Perez back on track, completing a long run on soft tyres.
In sector one, Hamilton set the best time with Alonso holding this distinction in the final sector. 

This said, Verstappen is only 0.047s shy of a time that would better these combined sectors.
While the long runs are being completed, it's interesting to note that while Verstappen may once again be enjoying his position at the top of the times, he is only the fastest man in the middle sector of the lap.
A notable absence on the track is Perez, with work being completed on the left-hand side of his car.
Highlighting the difference between a qualifying time and a race-run time, Verstappen is lapping close to seven seconds off his ultimate pace.
And now, we enter the long-run phase of the afternoon, with the timing screen absent of the greens and purples that indicate session and personal best efforts.
After a relatively quiet FP1 compared to the early phase of the season, Alonso improves to relegate Hulkenberg to third, falling just 0.170s short of Verstappen despite setting the fastest final sector of all.
Ninth. Hamilton is 0.642s off the pace. To put this in context, Bottas is seventh for Alfa Romeo. 

Russell appears to be enjoying the upgrades slightly more, however, in sixth.
We haven't yet seen the true pace of the new Mercedes upgrades, but now we will. Hamilton begins his qualifying simulation on fresh soft tyres.
What an effort from Hulkenberg! The Haas driver goes second - 0.270s behind Verstappen. 

Ocon also betters the Ferrari pair in fourth.
Stopwatch
Back to the top for Verstappen! A 1:13.907 puts the Red Bull driver three-tenths clear of Leclerc. Not quite the dominant margin of FP1, but still, it's not something to be sniffed at!
Here we go! Verstappen, Albon - he snuck into fourth without much fanfare! - and the rest are now taking to the track on the red-walled soft tyres.
Stopwatch
But Leclerc counterpunches quickly, going 0.028s faster than his team-mate with a 1:14.246s!
Stopwatch
And goes back to the top of the standings. A 1:14.274s is the new benchmark from Sainz.
Purple in sector two...
Sainz goes purple in sector one...
20 minutes into the session and we're about to see the first qualifying simulations with both Ferrari drivers exiting the garage on soft tyres.
Despite its significant upgrades, Mercedes is not showing the level of improvement that some may have expected. 

Hamilton is currently over one second off the pace, with Russell two-tenths and four places better off.
Bringing you up to date with the updates being run by teams, both Aston Martin drivers have a new front wing fitted to their cars, with Haas also trialling a new design.
Quote
"Who the **** was that in the McLaren," asks Russell after being blocked by Piastri, a move that resulted in a trip through the gravel for the Mercedes driver.

By: Autosport Staff

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