– After a silent first Free Practice – surprisingly action-packed Formula 3 test for many – there was the first big crash of the Formula 1 weekend in the second Free Practice for the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid. The victim was Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls), who had surprised with a strong performance until then.
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The fastest in the late Friday afternoon was Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) with a best time of 1:33.662 minutes. His teammate George Russell, who had set the best time in FP1 a few hours earlier, fell back to 5th place in FP2. The Englishman’s deficit to the Italian: 0.337 seconds.
Although the Madrid circuit at the exhibition grounds in Madrid is brand new, the leading field was relatively close together. Charles Leclerc was second, Lewis Hamilton (both Ferrari) third. Deficit: 0.113 and 0.149 seconds respectively. And Lindblad (+0.228) held on to 4th place until the end despite his accident.
“The track has more grip than expected,” analyzes ORF expert Alexander Wurz. Also because various support series had already cleaned the ideal line in advance. However, there was also a big crash in Formula 2, where the affected car even caught fire. This was to remain the only big scare on the first day.
Oscar Piastri (7th/McLaren), Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls), Esteban Ocon (Haas), and Liam Lawson (Red Bull) completed the top 10. Nico Hülkenberg (Audi) was twelfth with a deficit of 1.398 seconds (0.110 seconds ahead of teammate Gabriel Bortoleto in 13th).
“At the moment, I would rate Mercedes about one and a half tenths ahead of Ferrari,” says Wurz. “I can’t really rate Max yet. At the start of the session, he immediately showed that he was up front. But then at the end it was a bit more difficult for him again. I think from the first gut feeling, when I look at the sector times, that Red Bull has a three-tenth time loss to Mercedes.”
On the topic:
Result: 2nd Free Practice GP Spain, Madrid
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Why was Verstappen’s intermediate time deleted?
The 5.4-kilometer track, a mix of street circuit sections and a specially built section with several fast corners, proved difficult to master from the start. And since there are practically no runoff areas, the teams approached the weekend cautiously and initially refrained from an ambitious time attack while the drivers found their rhythm and memorized the track.
In the first run, Antonelli initially set the best time at 1:34.428 minutes. Close behind him was Leclerc, only 0.001 seconds slower. Practically the entire field started the program with the yellow medium tires. Only Nico Hülkenberg (Audi) was in 11th place after 15 minutes on the harder tires.
Later, Antonelli’s time was undercut by Verstappen (1:34.378 minutes), while the Mercedes driver was annoyed by Sergio Perez (Cadillac): “Of course. Always the same guy!” Perez was in Antonelli’s way in a right-hand corner, although he had already cut inside to avoid hindering the Italian. The FIA stewards did not initiate an investigation because of this.
Verstappen’s lead, by the way, lasted only briefly: In turn 17, he was – by far not the only driver – a few centimeters outside the track limits, which is why his best time was deleted. ORF expert Alexander Wurz shows no understanding for this: “I would change the white line there tomorrow. Because it is miserable to set a track limit there, where the wall is anyway, for five centimeters. We don’t need that on a street circuit.”
When Verstappen then switched from Medium to Soft in the second run, he could no longer match his previous time. With 1:34.036 minutes, he initially remained behind the leading Mercedes duo, who had not yet completed a run with fresh tires.
With fresh tires, it was again Antonelli who set the reference time: 1:33.662 minutes. After 35 minutes, he relegated the two Ferraris, Lindblad, and Russell to places 2 to 5. Russell incurred a deficit of 0.337 seconds to his teammate.
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Was there also a big crash?
After the first practice had passed quietly, the red flag made its first appearance this weekend in the second practice after about 35 minutes. Lindblad, who had made a strong impression until then and was in 4th place, wanted to “just a little too much of the good,” according to Wurz. The Racing Bulls driver did not even look for excuses on the radio: “I’m really sorry. I lost it very early.”
When the session was restarted, there were only 15 minutes left. Very little time to do extensive long runs and test the race trim for the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.
Why couldn’t Alonso and Norris drive?
Fernando Alonso’s second practice started late. The Spanish local hero was not even in the Aston Martin garage when it started. Reason: In the first practice, he apparently suffered a clutch failure during the practice starts at the end of the session.
Lando Norris (McLaren) also stood at the garage after two installation laps. His team announced during the session: “We have identified a problem with Lando’s car that requires a gearbox change. We are trying to get Lando back on track before the end of the session. But time is tight.”
While Alonso was able to start his program after 25 minutes and the Aston Martin veteran finished 17th in the end, Norris could not get back on track.
Wurz therefore does not see McLaren “as a contender to fight for pole. Not only because of the time difference, but in the onboard footage you see that the car does not try to build grip when the driver goes on the throttle, but immediately the rear breaks loose. That means this is not a mechanically simple car. Maybe aerodynamically top on normal tracks, but here it seems rather difficult for the McLaren drivers.”
Lance Stroll, the second Aston Martin driver, had to stop his training program a few minutes before the end of the session due to a technical problem.
Formula 1 Madrid schedule: What’s next?
Madrid is the last race weekend of the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship on European soil. After that, the season continues with round 15 at the street circuit in Baku (Azerbaijan). The last two season races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi are still officially on the 2026 Formula 1 calendar but are uncertain due to the military situation in the Middle East.
The Spanish Grand Prix continues on Saturday morning with the third Free Practice (from 12:30 CEST). The first sporting decision is made in qualifying on Saturday afternoon, which starts at 16:00 CEST. The race in Madrid starts on Sunday at 15:00 CEST.
The race weekend will be broadcast live on Sky (Germany), ORF (Austria), and SRF (Switzerland) (Here is the complete TV overview for Formula 1 in Madrid!).
The usual Formula 1 live streams can be followed by fans on Saturday and Sunday evening on the YouTube channel of Formel1.de. With a summary of the events and analyses well beyond the end of the TV broadcasts. Host Kevin Scheuren presents the streams again with the regular team including editor-in-chief Christian Nimmervoll as expert.
The provisional start time of the live streams on Saturday and Sunday is set for 21:00 CEST.
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