Lando Norris set the fastest time in second practice at the Circuit de Catalunya, despite this being his first session of the weekend.
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The world champion returned to the McLaren MCL40 after Formula 2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli drove the car in the opening hour. Norris posted a best lap of 1’15.426, nearly a second faster than the best time recorded during pre-season testing at the circuit in January.
After a disappointing weekend in Monaco, McLaren looked more comfortable on the medium-to-high-speed corners of the Spanish track. Mercedes were close on pace: George Russell was only nine thousandths of a second behind Norris, with the second McLaren driven by Oscar Piastri a few hundredths further back.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who returned to the Mercedes after Frederik Vesti drove in the first session, was around half a second off his team mate and finished fifth behind Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.
Max Verstappen was about nine tenths down in his Red Bull, while team mate Isack Hadjar took 10th in the sister car. They were split by Arvid Lindblad, Gabriel Bortoleto and Lewis Hamilton.
Track surface temperatures remained above 40C and tyre degradation became evident during the long runs late in the session. Hamilton asked race engineer Carlos Santi whether others were seeing similar drop-off and was told lap times were falling by roughly three tenths 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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