Kimi Antonelli set the pace in the second practice session (FP2) for the Spanish Grand Prix at the new Madrid circuit. The Mercedes driver was 0.113 seconds faster than Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, while the session was disrupted by a heavy crash involving Arvid Lindblad that brought out the first red flag of the weekend.
Antonelli, who leads the championship by 66 points over teammate George Russell after his comeback victory at Monza, showed consistency despite the session not being fully representative due to the incident. Leclerc had to settle for second, with Lewis Hamilton completing the top three, 0.149 seconds behind Antonelli.
Lindblad's crash occurred at Turn 13 when the Racing Bulls driver lost control and hit the barriers. The incident halted the session and disrupted most drivers' soft tyre qualifying simulations. Lindblad himself had earlier set the fourth-fastest time, showing potential before the incident.
Russell, who was fastest in FP1, could not complete a lap on soft tyres after aborting his initial effort before the red flag. He ended up fifth, 0.337 seconds behind Antonelli. Max Verstappen of Red Bull was sixth, four tenths adrift, followed by McLaren's Oscar Piastri in seventh and Racing Bulls' Yuki Tsunoda in eighth.
Esteban Ocon and Liam Lawson completed the top ten for Haas and Red Bull respectively. Meanwhile, reigning world champion Lando Norris suffered a gear shift problem that left him garage-bound for the majority of the session as McLaren carried out a gearbox change.
"The gearbox is still in false neutral. It seems really bad," Norris reported. "Something's not right. It's gone." On a track where every lap matters, this was a blow for Norris, who missed valuable track time to adapt to the new circuit.
With the session disrupted, drivers must maximise the remaining practice sessions to prepare for qualifying. The competition in Madrid is expected to be tight given the challenging circuit characteristics and lap times that can still improve.
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