Ferrari took a step forward in FP2 at the 2026 Madrid Grand Prix weekend, with Charles Leclerc finishing second, just 0.113 seconds behind Kimi Antonelli, and Lewis Hamilton third at 0.149 seconds. The SF-26 looked more convincing during the qualifying simulation than it had earlier in the day, although Ferrari’s race pace remains much harder to assess after traffic disrupted the long runs. The full Madrid GP FP2 classification therefore offered encouraging signs over one lap but fewer answers about Sunday.
The opening practice session in Madrid had shown two very different sides of Ferrari. On the medium tyres, the SF-26 proved highly competitive in the hands of both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, only for the car’s performance to plateau when the softer compound was fitted. It is a pattern Ferrari has encountered several times during the 2026 season, particularly in qualifying.
The limited improvement on the soft tyre in FP1 could also have been influenced by a set-up change made between the first and second stints, according to Chris Medland. FP2 was therefore expected to provide at least part of the answer, with Ferrari hoping to see the SF-26 return to a competitive level and put itself in a position to attack.
Ferrari closes the gap in Madrid GP FP2 qualifying simulation
Ferrari began its first FP2 stint on a new set of medium tyres. The SF-26 cars of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton immediately returned to the top of the timesheets, with the Monegasque driver setting the fastest time and his teammate following him after their first flying laps.
Both Ferrari drivers improved again on their next attempts. Lewis Hamilton ended that run in third position, around four tenths behind Kimi Antonelli, while Charles Leclerc initially sat seventh at eight tenths from the Mercedes driver. Charles Leclerc soon found more time, however, moving into second place and finishing just one thousandth of a second behind Kimi Antonelli.
Neither Lewis Hamilton nor Charles Leclerc managed to improve by more than a few thousandths on the following attempt before returning to the pits. Both Ferrari drivers also reported an oversteering tendency from the SF-26, particularly through certain sections of the Madring circuit.
Leclerc and Hamilton move into the top three on soft tyres
As usual, Ferrari then switched to the softer compound for its qualifying simulation. Lewis Hamilton’s first attempt put him second behind Kimi Antonelli, with approximately one and a half tenths separating the two drivers. Charles Leclerc was third, only nine thousandths slower than his Ferrari teammate.
Charles Leclerc improved on his following lap, moving ahead of Lewis Hamilton and closing to within 0.113 seconds of Kimi Antonelli. That ultimately left Ferrari second and third in the session, with both SF-26 cars much closer to the benchmark than they had been during the soft-tyre phase of FP1.
The programme was then interrupted by the red flag caused by Arvid Lindblad. When the session resumed, Charles Leclerc returned to the circuit on used soft tyres, while Lewis Hamilton went back out on used mediums. Ferrari therefore appeared to be splitting its strategy between the two cars, most likely as part of its race-pace simulation.
Ferrari race pace remains impossible to judge after traffic
Assessing that part of Ferrari’s FP2 programme proved extremely difficult because of the amount of traffic on track. Charles Leclerc was particularly affected, becoming caught in a tightly packed group of cars, while Lewis Hamilton also encountered traffic during his run.
Charles Leclerc only managed to complete his final two laps in clear air, and the same was true for Lewis Hamilton. As a result, there is not enough meaningful information to draw a reliable conclusion about Ferrari’s race pace from the second practice session.
The qualifying simulation provided a clearer picture. Ferrari appears to have made a step forward compared with FP1, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finishing immediately behind Kimi Antonelli and separated from the Mercedes driver by just over a tenth of a second.
Mercedes nevertheless remains the favourite, while Ferrari will also have to account for the additional performance that Mercedes and the other Mercedes-powered cars are expected to find when qualifying begins. For the Maranello team, FP2 brought encouraging progress over a single lap, but the true strength of the SF-26 over a race stint remains one of the key unanswered questions heading into Saturday.
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