Leclerc beat Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton to top spot in second practice at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, having also been fastest in opening practice, to mark a strong start to the weekend for the F1 world championship leader.
Despite missing out on the top time, Mercedes was optimistic its upgrade package delivered for the Spanish GP has cured much of its porpoising problem, meaning the team can focus on extracting better performance from its W13 F1 car.
But the major talking point at the Spanish GP was the FIA investigation into Aston Martin’s F1 car upgrades, having drawn incredible similarities to the Red Bull car, as the Silverstone-based team was judged to have not broken any rules in developing its own package.
Max Verstappen led the Red Bull charge in Spain, with fifth place in FP2 just behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, as Alpine’s Fernando Alonso took sixth ahead of the sister Red Bull of Sergio Perez.
Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Mick Schumacher (Haas) rounded out the top 10 in FP2.
What time does qualifying start for the F1 Spanish Grand Prix?
Qualifying for the Spanish GP starts at 4pm local time (3pm BST), using the regular Q1, Q2 and Q3 knockout session format.
Date: Saturday 21st May 2022
Start time: 4pm local time – 3pm BST
How can I watch Formula 1?
In the United Kingdom Formula 1 is only broadcast live on Sky Sports, with highlights shown on Channel 4 several hours after the race has finished. Live streaming through NOW is also available in the UK.
Sky Sports F1, which broadcasts the F1 races, can be added as part of the Sky Sports channels which costs £20 a month for new customers. Sky Sports can also be accessed through NOW with a one-off day payment of £11.98p or a month membership of £33.99p per month.
Fans wanting to watch the race for free will have to wait until Saturday evening (qualifying) or Sunday evening (race) to see the highlights on Channel 4.
How can I watch F1 Spanish GP qualifying?
In the United Kingdom every F1 practice, qualifying and race is broadcast live on Sky Sports F1, with Spanish GP qualifying coverage starting at 2:20pm GMT.
· Channel: Sky Sports F1
· Start time: 2:20pm BST 21st May 2022
Autosport will be running a live text coverage of qualifying here.
When can I watch the highlights of F1 Spanish GP qualifying?
In the United Kingdom Channel 4 is broadcasting highlights of qualifying for the Spanish GP at 6:45pm BST on Saturday. The full programme will run for 90 minutes, covering both qualifying and wrapping up the major talking points of the race weekend so far.
For the entire 2022 F1 season, Channel 4 will broadcast highlights of every qualifying and race of each event. The highlights will also be available on Channel 4’s on demand catch up services.
· Channel: Channel 4
· Start time: 6:45pm BST 21st May 2022
Will F1 Spanish GP qualifying be on the radio?
Live radio coverage of every practice, qualifying and race for the 2022 F1 season will be available on the BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC 5 Live Sports Extra or via the BBC Sport website.
Coverage of Spanish qualifying will start at 2:55pm BST on BBC 5 Live Sports Extra and the BBC Sounds app.
What's the weather forecast for qualifying at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya?
Sunny and hot weather is forecast for Saturday afternoon for the start of qualifying at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmelo. The temperature is set to be 27 degrees Celsius at the start of qualifying, four degrees cooler than Miami GP qualifying.
F1 Spanish GP: FP2 results
| Cla | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Charles Leclerc | 1'19.670 | |
| 2 |
 George Russell | 1'19.787 | 0.117 |
| 3 |
Lewis Hamilton | 1'19.874 | 0.204 |
| 4 |
 Carlos Sainz | 1'19.990 | 0.320 |
| 5 |
 Max Verstappen | 1'20.006 | 0.336 |
| 6 |
Fernando Alonso | 1'20.203 | 0.533 |
| 7 |
 Sergio Perez | 1'20.632 | 0.962 |
| 8 |
 Sebastian Vettel | 1'20.703 | 1.033 |
| 9 |
 Esteban Ocon | 1'20.745 | 1.075 |
| 10 |
Mick Schumacher | 1'20.757 | 1.087 |
| 11 |
Pierre Gasly | 1'20.917 | 1.247 |
| 12 |
 Kevin Magnussen | 1'21.013 | 1.343 |
| 13 |
 Lance Stroll | 1'21.249 | 1.579 |
| 14 |
 Yuki Tsunoda | 1'21.285 | 1.615 |
| 15 |
 Daniel Ricciardo | 1'21.385 | 1.715 |
| 16 |
 Valtteri Bottas | 1'21.828 | 2.158 |
| 17 |
 Zhou Guanyu | 1'21.866 | 2.196 |
| 18 |
 Alex Albon | 1'22.319 | 2.649 |
| 19 |
Nicholas Latifi | 1'23.197 | 3.527 |
| 20 |
Lando Norris | 1'23.388 | 3.718 |
| View full results | |||
F1 Spanish GP: FP1 result
| Cla | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Charles Leclerc | 1'19.828 | |
| 2 |
Carlos Sainz | 1'19.907 | 0.079 |
| 3 |
Max Verstappen | 1'20.164 | 0.336 |
| 4 |
George Russell | 1'20.590 | 0.762 |
| 5 |
Fernando Alonso | 1'20.768 | 0.940 |
| 6 |
Lewis Hamilton | 1'20.811 | 0.983 |
| 7 |
Lando Norris | 1'21.279 | 1.451 |
| 8 |
Pierre Gasly | 1'21.422 | 1.594 |
| 9 |
Daniel Ricciardo | 1'21.737 | 1.909 |
| 10 |
Yuki Tsunoda | 1'21.814 | 1.986 |
| 11 |
Esteban Ocon | 1'21.891 | 2.063 |
| 12 |
Lance Stroll | 1'21.920 | 2.092 |
| 13 |
 Robert Kubica | 1'21.975 | 2.147 |
| 14 |
Kevin Magnussen | 1'22.089 | 2.261 |
| 15 |
Mick Schumacher | 1'22.146 | 2.318 |
| 16 |
Sebastian Vettel | 1'22.164 | 2.336 |
| 17 |
Valtteri Bottas | 1'22.614 | 2.786 |
| 18 |
Nyck de Vries | 1'22.920 | 3.092 |
| 19 |
Nicholas Latifi | 1'23.011 | 3.183 |
| 20 |
 Jüri Vips | 1'24.138 | 4.310 |
| View full results | |||
