Russell strong & Norris fastest in second practice session ahead of Spanish Grand Prix

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/russell-george/xxF56RaN/"]Russell[/a] was fastest in a ‌hot and sunny first practice but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/norris-lando/WSVABbVF/"]Norris[/a], who sat out that session, was 0.009 quicker ‌in the second with the day's best lap of  01:15.426 seconds.[/p][p]McLaren's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/piastri-oscar/MqKAIeUf/"]Oscar Piastri[/a], last year's winner from pole position in a ‌McLaren one-two at the Circuit de Catalunya, was third and Ferrari's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/leclerc-charles/KlCOSRub/"]‌Charles Leclerc[/a] fourth.[/p][embed guid="1746d1a6-c0e0-45e6-b1f4-a502a77fe9d1" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2065469575651569694" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"Today was a reasonable Friday. Not perfect, but a step in the right direction," [/b]said Norris. [b]"The heat and wind made it tough for everyone, so no one's ‌feeling completely comfortable out there, but our baseline ⁠is stronger than it has been ‌at previous events.[/b][/p][p][b]"We've come to a circuit that certainly suits us better and ​the car is operating in a very different window, which is encouraging."[/b][/p][p]Mercedes's championship leader [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/antonelli-andrea-kimi/ptGu0mT1/"]Kimi Antonelli[/a], who also sat out the ​first session while the team gave track time to reserve driver [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vesti-frederik/0zJEHFq1/"]Frederik Vesti[/a], was fifth as the 19-year-old Italian prepared for a weekend ⁠that could bring him a ​sixth win in a row.[/p][p][b]"Overall, still quite a bit of work to do,"[/b] said Antonelli. [b]"But I'm quite confident ahead of tomorrow. The long run was good, so that's a positive. I'm looking forward to the changes we ‌are going to make."[/b][/p][p]Red Bull's four-times world champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/verstappen-max/UV3mgeXB/"]Max Verstappen[/a] was sixth fastest, with Racing Bulls' [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lindblad-arvid/bgk1rl5a/"]Arvid Lindblad[/a] seventh and Audi's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bortoleto-gabriel/8zwcIVil/"]Gabriel Bortoleto[/a] eighth.[/p][p]Ferrari's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hamilton-lewis/tI5Vpe1h/"]Lewis Hamilton[/a], Antonelli's closest championship rival but still 66 points behind after finishing runner-up in the last two rounds, was ninth.[/p][p][b]"We had an issue with the front wing which made things a bit more complicated, particularly in terms of tyre preparation, and missing FP1 (first practice) meant I was a bit on the back foot,"[/b] said Hamilton.[/p][p]Russell enjoyed a ‌trouble-free first session as he lapped with a best effort of 1:16.363, ​0.203 quicker than Piastri.[/p]