Antonelli to the top, Lindblad stars but shunts in second Spanish GP practice

Kimi Antonelli topped FP2 in Madrid after Arvid Lindblad caused the new street circuit’s first Formula 1 red flag with a heavy crash at Turn 13 while trying to improve on his impressive fourth-place showing.

Lindblad had already set a competitive time on a set of soft tires but was still pushing out of the La Monumental on the run down to the fast left-hander that followed when the rear axle started sliding. The Racing Bulls rookie attempted to save the slide but by then he was out of control, and the car rotated backwards into the barrier before coming to rest with its right side embedded in the wall.

Lindblad walked away uninjured, but his car took significant damage, particularly to the right-hand side and the rear. Recovery of the stricken vehicle and repair of the barriers took almost 15m to complete.

With less than 15m on the clock at the resumption, all drivers switched to long-run simulations, leaving the order set. It left Antonelli at the top of the order, just fending off Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton – though the Italian’s best lap of 1m33.662s was remarkable for none of his three sectors being so much as a personal best, with 0.18s left on the table by stringing together his three best sectors. The Mercedes driver's 0.113s margin to Leclerc and 0.149s advantage over Hamilton therefore slightly flattered the Ferrari drivers’ performances.

Despite his crash, Lindblad finished the session fourth, thanks in part to a purple first sector. It put the rookie ahead of George Russell, who had to abandon his first lap on softs but then couldn’t get any closer than 0.337s to his teammate.

Max Verstappen overcame heavy steering to end the day sixth and 0.401s off the pace for Red Bull Racing, while Oscar Piastri finished the session seventh and 0.538s off the pace.

Piastri’s McLaren teammate Lando Norris succumbed to a gearbox problem just two laps into the hour, forcing him back to his garage for a complete gearbox change, leaving him without a time.

Yuki Tsunoda was eighth in the second Racing Bulls car despite his best lap being blocked by Hamilton, with the Briton signaling an apology from the cockpit as the frustrated Japanese driver powered past.

Esteban Ocon was ninth for Haas ahead of Liam Lawson in the second Red Bull Racing car, the Kiwi’s session ending early for technical checks.

Pierre Gasly was 11th ahead of Audi teammates Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto.

Oliver Bearman ended the session 14th, surviving an early tap of the barrier at Turn 17, ahead of Franco Colapinto and Carlos Sainz.

Fernando Alonso lost the first 25m of the session to a clutch problem and completed only 16 laps following Lindblad’s red flag.

Alex Albon was 18th ahead of Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll – who also ended the session early with a technical problem – and Valtteri Bottas.

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