Max on P6 in Spanish GP second free practice: 'A lot of work to do'

Published on 12 June 2026 by Florence Cobben

At the closing of the second free practice of the Spanish Grand Prix, Max Verstappen is the sixth-fastest man on the grid. The Dutchman’s fastest time lapping around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was 1:16.321, putting him nine-tenths behind fastest-man Lando Norris in the McLaren. George Russel (Mercedes) finished in second, with Oscar Piastri (McLaren) on third.

After the session, Max explained where the RB22 came up short: “We are losing (pace) in the high speed and the low speed, it’s pretty much everywhere. (It was the case for) the whole day — the grip, the feeling of the car, the balance. Yes, it’s something we’ll try to work on.” Max is realistic about what this means for his chances for the rest of the weekend: “We have a lot of work to do.”

However, the lack of grip is not only a problem that Red Bull is struggling with: “Hard, medium, soft — nothing felt nice, but (that was the case) for no one. When there’s no grip, the cars are literally drifting around. From our side, compared to the top guys, we struggled more with balance, but no one had a nice balance.”

With an air temperature of 30 degrees Celsius and a track temperature of no less than 48 degrees, the second free practice of the weekend gets underway. After setting the fourth-fastest time in the first practice, Max is out early on track for the second round. On the hard compound tyres the Dutchman clocks a 1.16.452 time, shooting him up through the standings to P1. After his short stint, the Oracle Red Bull Racing-driver returns to the pits. Moments later Oscar Piastri improves on Max’s time on a set of mediums.

A quarter of an hour into the session, Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls-car stalled to a halt coming out of the pits. The unlucky Kiwi came up against motor issues, triggering a virtual safety car period. After a short interlude the track is released for racing and Max takes to the track on a set of soft tyres. He improves his time significantly compared to his first stint (1.16.321) but he’s still six-tenths slower than Piastri at the top of the standings.

Halfway through the session George Russell sets a blisteringly fast 1.15.435, while Max takes to the tracks on a set of hard compound tyres to focus on his race pace. Lando Norris is still practicing qualifying laps, and improves on Russell’s time by nine-tenths of a second.

After eleven laps, Max chimes into the team radio asking if he can quit the program early because the hard tyres are difficult to drive on. This was apparent from a brief moment in turn 10, where Max almost lost the back of his RB22. Max pits and switches to soft tyres.

In the closing phase of the practice all the drivers start running race simulations, and the top of the field stops fluctuating. Norris finished the session fastest, followed by Russell. Piastri comes third, with Charles Leclerc in fourth. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli finishes in fifth, while Max, with 33 laps to his name, finishes in sixth.

Results second free practice Barcelona-catalunya: