Antonelli on top ahead of Ferraris in Madrid practice

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli topped the times for Mercedes ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in Friday’s second practice session ahead of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.

The championship-leading 20-year-old Italian clocked a best time of one minute and 33.662 seconds to outpace Leclerc by 0.113sec at the challenging new high-risk Madring circuit.

After an accident-free opening practice, the second session was red-flagged when Racing Bulls’ rookie Arvid Lindblad lost control and slammed into the barriers at Turn 13. He was unhurt, but his car suffered extensive damage.

Lindblad drove well to claim the fourth fastest time before his accident and remained there ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, Red Bull’s four-time champion Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri of McLaren.

Piastri’s team-mate world champion Lando Norris managed only two laps before pitting with gearbox problems that prevented him rejoining.

Yuki Tsunoda was eighth in the second Racing Bulls, ahead of Esteban Ocon of Haas and Liam Lawson in the second Red Bull.

Despite pre-event forecasts of multiple red flags and accidents, it was a testament to the professionalism of the drivers that Lindblad was the only victim of a challenging and technical track being used for the first time.

A big crash during an earlier Formula Two race, that saw Thai driver Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak climb unhurt from his blazing car, served as notice of the perils ahead.

Russell on Thursday described the new circuit as “the riskiest track” in the calendar but the only big incident was when Lindblad slammed his car into the wall at the tricky 90-degree Turn 13 left-hander.

The action resumed after a 10-minute pause for barrier repairs with 10 minutes remaining and Antonelli on course to complete a ‘double top’ for the Silver Arrows following Russell’s quickest lap in the opening session.