The leader of the Formula 1 World Cup, the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), dominated during the second practice session in Barcelona, where the Spanish Grand Prix will take place this Sunday, for the seventh date of the annual calendar of the highest category automotive.
The current two-time F-1 champion displayed all his power and ability to set a best time of 1m13s907/1000, after the 33 laps he gave to the Montmeló circuit.
Verstappen, who had also achieved the fastest time in the first morning session (1m14s606/1000), led Spanish Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) by 170 thousandths, who placed second.
Meanwhile, the German Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) surprised and got the third time, at 270 thousandths, while the Mexican Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) was fourth in the session, at 312 thousandths.
Further back were the Frenchman Esteban Ocon (Alpine), at 335/1000; the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), at 339/1000; the Spanish Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), at 367/1000; the British George Russell (Mercedes), at 485/1000; the Finn Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), at 541/1000; and the Frenchman Pierre Gasly (Alpine), at 550/1000.
The Englishman Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), seven times world champion, achieved the eleventh time in the second practice, at 642/1000. The Australian Oscar Piastri (McLaren), the Chinese Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo), the Englishman Lando Norris (McLaren) and the Danish Kevin Magnussen (Haas) followed.
The last five places in the session corresponded to the Dutch Nick De Vries (Alpha Tauri), the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri), the Canadian Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), the Thai Alexander Albon (Williams) and the American Logan Sargeant (Williams ).
This Saturday the third and final session will take place. The qualifying test will begin at 11 in Argentina. The competition will start on Sunday at 10.
Colapinto will race in F-3
Accompanying F-1 this weekend in Spain, Formula 3 will contest the fourth stage of the 2023 season. And in qualifying, Pepe Martí was the fastest among the drivers on the grid, getting pole position for the race of the Sunday, while Zak Sullivan will take the lead in this Saturday’s race.
The Argentine Franco Colapinto will start on Sunday from third position, while in the sprint on Saturday he will be tenth. In his turn, the Colombian Sebastián Montoya was seventh for the main and sixth for Saturday.
It should be noted that in the 2023 F-3 season two races are held over the weekend. Thus, the result of qualifying practice defines the pole position of the main dispute, called the Feature Race. In addition, the first place in the ranking earns 2 points.
