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Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen both felt they had no grip and were not expected to challenge at the front in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
Hamilton missed the first practice, as Ferrari elected to tick off one of the four practice sessions in which a rookie must run in one of their cars, and was only ninth in the second practice, nearly a second behind teammate Charles Leclerc in fourth.
Ferrari brought the biggest upgrade package to Spain but Hamilton was 1.2 seconds behind pace-setters Lando Norris and George Russell.
“Charles had two sessions and the McLarens and Mercedes had four tenths. Obviously we are still a long way off,” Hamilton said.
“It was an anomaly in the sense that most of the drivers, perhaps not Landau, who missed the first session were well behind their teammates in the second session.
“And the grip was the least with this generation of cars, which I’ve had here. And because it’s so hot, the tires only last one lap. It’s hard going into second practice and there’s only two laps. I don’t really know what I’m going to do with the car. Hopefully we’ll have a better day tomorrow.”
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Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton hopes they are more competitive at the front of the grid for Saturday’s qualifying
Verstappen drove in both practice sessions but ended the day around nine-tenths behind Norris with Red Bull apparently less stable than McLaren and Mercedes. Sky Sports F1Martin Brandl from Trackside.
Verstappen says the team has “a lot of work to do” and will “definitely” not challenge for the front row in qualifying on Saturday at 3pm, live Sky Sports F1.
He said, “We’re losing at high-speed, low-speed and medium-speed – it’s almost everywhere. All day just lack of grip, balance and balance with the car. It’s something we’ll try to work on.”
“Nothing felt good, but for nobody I think. Every time I followed people there was no grip. The cars were literally spinning around, the tires giving no grip.
“On our side, compared to the top guys, we struggled a bit more with balance but nobody had a good balance.”
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Issac Hadjar and Sergio Perez almost crashed into each other during second practice in Barcelona
Norris: I didn’t feel amazing
After two tough rounds in Montreal and Monaco, McLaren looked to have returned to their Miami form where they won the sprint and came close to winning the Norris Grand Prix.
Norris failed to score points in the last two rounds due to unreliability but the McLaren car was more competitive at the more conventional, flowing Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
“It’s a lot faster so we’re playing in a different regime with the car than we’ve been in the last couple of weeks and it seems to be working in a better place,” he said.
“I think a reasonable Friday. Still a lot of good things to improve. It’s not like I’m feeling amazing or happy. It’s hot so I don’t think anyone will be that happy. It’s tough with the wind and the conditions. It seems to be working better than the last few weeks which is a good sign.”
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Kimi Antonelli was left frustrated after Oscar Piastre intercepted him during second practice in Spain
Oscar Piastre, who was third in the second practice, added: “The key now is to maintain this pace until tomorrow. Although the early signs are encouraging, there is still much to learn and much more to discover.
“We’ll continue to work hard to see what else we can figure out overnight before the election.”
Kimi Antonelli was another driver to watch first practice from the sidelines and was half a second off the pace in what appeared to be his toughest practice session since the previous round of the season.
Antonelli, who leads Hamilton by 66 points and Russell by 68 points in the drivers’ championship, reckons “it won’t be easy” to take pole and claim a sixth straight win this weekend.
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On The F1 Show Podcast, Craig Slater and David Croft discuss George Russell’s recent misfortunes, but say he needs to step up his performance to get back into contention with Kimi Antonelli.
“It’s a bit difficult (in a) single lap. The window is too small. The tires are getting too hot. Just trying to find the best balance,” Kishore said.
“Overall, there’s still quite a bit of work to do. But I’m pretty confident for tomorrow. The long run was good, so that’s a positive. I’m looking forward to the changes we’re going to make.”
Sky Sports F1’s Barcelona-Catalunya GP schedule
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Ahead of this weekend’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, we look back at some of the most dramatic moments from previous races at the circuit
Saturday 13 June
9am: F3 sprint
11.15am: Barcelona-Catalunya GP Practice Three (Session starts at 11.30am)
1.10pm: F2 Sprint*
2.15pm: Barcelona-Catalunya GP qualifying build-up*
3pm: Barcelona-Catalunya GP Qualifying*
5pm: Ted’s qualifying notebook
Sunday 14 June
7.35am: F3 Feature Race
9.05am: Porsche Supercup
10.20am: F2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Barcelona-Catalunya GP Build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
2pm: Barcelona-Catalonia Grand Prix*
4pm: Barcelona-Catalunya GP Reaction: Checkered flag
5pm: Ted’s Notebook
*Also on Sky Sports main events
Formula 1 is in Spain for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix with live coverage on Sky Sports F1. Sunday’s race starts at 2pm. Stream Sky Sports now – no contract, cancel anytime
