Barcelona-Catalunya GP: Lando Norris fastest from George Russell as McLaren outpace Mercedes in second practice

Barcelona-Catalunya GP: Lando Norris fastest from George Russell as McLaren outpace Mercedes in second practice | F1 News

June 12, 2026:

Barcelona-Catalunya GP: Lando Norris fastest from George Russell as McLaren outpace Mercedes in second practice | F1 News

Lando Norris pipped George Russell to the fastest time of second practice at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix with Kimi Antonelli only fifth as McLaren impressed to outpace Mercedes.

After struggling badly for pace against their front-running rivals last week on the slow-speed streets of Monaco, McLaren looked a far more competitive force around the high-speed sweeps of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Friday.

And it was world champion Norris, in his one session of the day on track, who was fastest of all in the second session thanks to a best lap of 1:15.426 on the soft tyres.

Norris pipped Mercedes’ Russell – who had set the pace in first practice – by 0.009s with Oscar Piastri just 0.057s behind in the second McLaren.

“McLaren will be really encouraged,” said Sky Sports F1’s Karun Chandhok of the reigning world champions.

“Norris was right up there on race pace too, matching Russell lap for lap.”

McLaren and Mercedes enjoyed a clear short-run pace edge over Ferrari and Red Bull – although dominant championship leader Antonelli, the winner of the past five races, finished behind Charles Leclerc in fifth, almost 0.6s off Norris’ pace.

Antonelli, like Norris, sat out the first hour of running as seven teams chose the first session to run rookies as part of their yearly obligations to run inexperienced drivers four times a year.

Lewis Hamilton also sat out first practice although struggled on his return to find sufficient pace in a Ferrari that features eight different upgrades this weekend. He wound up 1.2s off the pace in ninth place, although team-mate Leclerc was just 0.3s back to offer the hope of progress into Saturday.

Max Verstappen also struggled in his Red Bull and was almost a second off the pace in sixth before later describing his tyres as feeling “horrendous” towards the end of a long run amid sweltering track temperatures in Spain.

Arvid Lindblad was seventh to continue Racing Bull’s strong run of form, although team-mate Liam Lawson was restricted to just seven laps due to his car stopping with a mechanical problem exiting the pit lane. The team were at least able to fix the issue and Lawson was able to return and complete a handful of laps before the chequered flag.

More to follow…

Sky Sports F1’s Barcelona-Catalunya GP schedule

Saturday June 13
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 June 14
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: THE BARCELONA-CATALUNYA GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Barcelona-Catalunya GP reaction: Chequered Flag
5pm: Ted’s Notebook

*Also on Sky Sports Main Event

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 with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime

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