Verstappen completes Spanish GP Friday clean sweep

Max Verstappen completed a Friday clean sweep at the Spanish Grand Prix by finishing top of second practice at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The two-time champion set a benchmark of 1:13.907 to finish 0.170s faster than Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso.

Verstappen had underlined Red Bull's early dominance with a margin of almost eight-tenths over teammate Sergio Perez in FP1, and will enter the weekend as the driver to beat.

The session was dominated by continued struggles with a bump at the final corner which has been exaggerated by increased speeds compared to previous years after the old chicane was removed from the layout.

Drivers have experienced excessive bouncing due to cars bottoming, with the Ferraris and Mercedes' struggling to comply more than their rivals.

Pirelli's Prototype Hard tyres were provided in a continuation of a test from FP1 ahead of the introduction of the new construction from the British Grand Prix.

Hulkenberg shines

Nico Hulkenberg finished a stunning third fastest for Haas to continue his fine form over one lap this season.

The German finished only 0.270s slower than Verstappen's effort and ahead of Perez, with Esteban Ocon fifth for Alpine.

Ferrari added its upgrade package to Charles Lecerc's car after the Monégasque stayed with the old configuration in FP1 - he finished sixth fastest ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz, although both were over three-tenths off the pace.

Sainz did give the home crowd something to cheer when setting the initial fastest time on Soft tyres early in the session.

George Russell ended the day eighth fastest as Mercedes finally began to cultivate data from its radical upgrade package, though the Briton was forced into the gravel early on after an encounter with McLaren's Oscar Piastri.

Valtteri Bottas finished ninth for Alfa Romeo, whilst Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10 ahead of Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time World Champion wound up 0.642s slower than Verstappen.

Nyck de Vries was unable to follow up on a sparkling first session and ended his day 16th fastest, although still ahead of AlphaTauri teammate Yuki Tsunoda, whilst Lance Stroll could muster only 18th, a second slower than Aston Martin teammate Alonso.