Formula 1: Leclerc, in front of the Mercedes in the practice sessions of the Spanish GP

El Monegasque
Charles Leclerc
(Ferrari), leader of the Formula One World Championship and who had already been in the first, was the fastest, ahead of the two Mercedes of the English George Russell and Lewis Hamilton -seven times world champion-, in the second free practice for the Spanish Grand Prix, the sixth of the year, which takes place at the Montmeló circuit, on the outskirts of Barcelona; where his Spanish teammate Carlos Sainz was fourth.

In the best of his twelve laps, Leclerc covered the 4,675 meters of the Catalan track in one minute, 19 seconds and 670 thousandths, 117 less than Russell -who turned the same number of times- and with a 204 advantage over Hamilton, who did one lap less than the previous ones.

All of them with the soft tire, the same one used by Sainz, fourth -three tenths away- in a session in which the best times of the day were set and that his compatriot, the double Asturian world champion Fernando Alonso (Alpine) finished sixth, ahead of the Mexican Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) and behind his teammate, the Dutch Max Verstappen (Red Bull), last world champion.

Sainz turned eleven times and was 16 thousandths ahead of ‘Mad Max’, in another hot session that ended with 30 degrees Celsius ambient and 41 on the asphalt; in which Alonso, who completed twelve laps, set the sixth time, half a second behind the Monegasque and, like everyone else, on the soft compound.

‘Checo’, who had not ridden in the first session -in which he ceded the Red Bull to the Estonian Juri Vips- was, for this reason, one of those who rode the most in the second, in which he repeated the layout of the Catalan circuit. He was 962 thousandths behind the leader of the World Cup and registered seventh in the time table. In a session that ended much earlier than expected -in the middle of it- the Finn Valtteri Bottas; who ‘broke’ his Alfa Romeo.

The third and last free practice will be held this Saturday starting at 6:00 in the morning, Colombia time, three hours before qualifying, which will order the starting grid for Sunday’s race, scheduled for 66 laps, to complete a journey of 308.5 kilometers.