Red Bull’s Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen set the pace in both practice sessions for the Spanish Grand Prix on Friday, with home hero Fernando Alonso delighting the crowd with the second fastest lap.
The Dutch driver was 0.768 seconds quicker than Mexican team mate and closest rival Sergio Perez in the first session and then 0.170 faster than Aston Martin’s Alonso in the late afternoon.
Alonso’s 32nd and last win was at the same circuit a decade ago with Ferrari and his form at the age of 41 -- with five podiums in six races including second in Monaco last weekend -- has fired up the fans.
Verstappen’s fastest lap around Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya was a one minute 13.907 second effort on soft tyres in practice two, with Alonso clocking 1:14.077.
Verstappen, who took his first F1 win at the circuit in 2016 and also won last year, leads closest rival Perez by 39 points after winning four of six races.
Red Bull has won all six races so far.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, fresh from third place in Monaco last Sunday, was best of the rest despite shedding some rear bodywork in the hour-long session on a hot afternoon but 0.812 off the pace.
Nyck de Vries was a surprise fourth for Red Bull-owned AlphaTauri ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and home hero Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin.
Ferrari introduced a new look upgraded car but Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were eighth and ninth with Mercedes’ George Russell, who had been trying out prototype Pirelli tyres for much of the session, 10th.
Leclerc ran the old design and Sainz the new bodywork as Ferrari conducted a comparison.
The top teams were all running with sensors and fluorescent ‘flow-vis’ paint early in the session as they sought aerodynamic data.
Several drivers also complained about the bumpy approach to the final corner.
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