Good afternoon, friends of ScuderiaFans.com, and welcome back. The second free practice session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is about to get underway.
Just a few hours ago, we witnessed a rather unusual FP1 session. Instead of several regular race drivers, no fewer than seven young talents from the various Formula 1 junior academies took to the track as teams fulfilled their mandatory rookie driver requirements.
Among those in action were Leonardo Fornaroli for McLaren in place of Lando Norris, Colton Herta for Cadillac in Sergio Perez’s car, Ayumu Iwasa for Red Bull replacing Isack Hadjar, Dino Beganovic for Ferrari in Lewis Hamilton’s SF-26, Paul Aron for Audi instead of Nico Hülkenberg, Frederik Vesti for Mercedes in place of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, and Luke Browning for Williams instead of Alex Albon.
Browning endured a particularly unfortunate session, as a technical issue kept him in the garage for much of the running. On the positive side, Leonardo Fornaroli impressed with the fifth-fastest time overall, while Paul Aron also delivered an excellent performance by placing sixth for Audi.
FP2 is expected to return to a more conventional format. All the regular race drivers will be back behind the wheel, and we should begin to see more representative lap times, both in qualifying simulations and longer race-pace runs.
One of the key stories to follow concerns Charles Leclerc. Following the braking issues he experienced in Monaco, the Ferrari driver decided to test Carbon Industries brake components, aligning himself with the choice Lewis Hamilton made several Grands Prix ago. These evaluations are being carried out during Friday’s two free practice sessions and could provide important feedback ahead of the rest of the weekend.
Before turning our full attention to the live coverage of FP2, it is worth taking a quick look at Pirelli’s tyre allocation for Barcelona. Teams have been supplied with the Hard C2, Medium C3 and Soft C4 compounds, which represent the middle range of Pirelli’s tyre selection for the 2026 Formula 1 season.
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