Valtteri Bottas was fastest in Friday morning's first free practice session, the Mercedes driver edging the Ferrari duo of Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc by a small margin. Lewis Hamilton concluded his morning P4 after a relatively muted session while Haas' Romain Grosjean and McMLaren Carlos Sainz rounded off the top six. For all teams F1's return to Europe after their four-race opening stint abroad is synonymous with upgrades. From engine updates for Ferrari and Renault to aero changes for the entire grid, everyone was eager to validate the evolutions in the first practice session of the day. After the usual series of routine installation laps, Red Bull's Pierre Gasly was the first driver to dare put a time on the board, the Frenchman undertaking a long run on hard tyres with a best lap in 1m21.016s. However, it was Haas' Romain Grosjean who was the early pace setter while Lewis Hamilton was the last man to take to the track, the Mercedes driver heading out onto the Circuit de Catalunya 20 minutes into the session. After a few attempts from Leclerc and Vettel to overhaul Grosjean at the top of the timesheet, Valtteri Bottas lowered the benchmark time to 1m19.734s. Thirty minutes in, the Ferrari pair really started to get going, with Leclerc and Vettel trading places at the top, the German temporarily settling the Scuderia's intra-team score with a 1.18.066s that edged Leclerc by 0.126s. But an effort by Bottas on Pirelli's red soft tyre yielded the first sub 1.18 lap of the day. Meanwhile, Hamilton endured a rather subdued session until he bolted on a set of softs that sprung him to P4, 0.624s behind Bottas. Overall, with the exception of a few drivers running wide on occasion and a visit to the kitty litter by Grosjean, it was a drama-free morning, with short runs the norm in the closing stages of FP1. There was however an alert in the Red Bull garage where Max Verstappen's RB15 was seen leaking puddles of oil, signaling a premature end to the Dutchman's session, with only 14 laps completed. Not to be outdone by Red Bull's issues, Bottas' car was also seen dripping oil in the Silver Arrows team's garage! As everyone was prepping to wind down the morning and head to lunch, Racing Point's Lance Stroll was seen stranded in the barriers at Turn 9, the Canadian - fortunately unscathed - informing his team over the radio that he had "clipped the grass on entry", inflicting at first glance some pretty heavy damage to the front left suspension of his RP19. The mishap brought out the red flag with only a minute left on the clock. Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter<doc-sep>Full results from second practice for the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, round five of the 2019 Formula 1 season.<doc-sep>Magnussen posted his time of 1m18.101s 90 minutes before the end of the morning's running using the C3 Pirellis, which were allocated as the softs for last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix. Fuoco posted his fastest time on the same tyre compound during a brief spell of running between the first two of a flurry of red flags in the final hour – one caused by Daniel Ticktum's Red Bull stopping near Turn 10 and the other by the Williams of Nicholas Latifi parking near the pit exit. Alex Albon took over the Toro Rosso from Daniil Kvyat for day two, jumping up to third place with a quick lap during the two minutes of running between the final red flag, caused by Mercedes driver Nikita Mazepin spinning at Turn 11, and the end of the session. Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen also used C3s to set the fourth fastest time, just under half-a-second off Magnussen. Charles Leclerc switched to Ferrari's Pirelli test car for the second day of running, ending up fifth fastest using unmarked test rubber. That put him just ahead of Latifi, who set his best time shortly before stopping. Mazepin had his first outing in the 2019 Mercedes, although he has been conducting a private test programme in a 2017 version. He set the seventh fastest time on C3s, 1.045s off the pace, before his spin. Jack Aitken was eighth fastest on his return to action for Renault, focusing on the white-banded C2 rubber, outpacing McLaren's Oliver Turvey by 0.028s. Ticktum was 10th and did not run during the final hour of the session after the car stopped on track – the second Red Bull-triggered red flag in this test. Lance Stroll was 11th fastest in the Pirelli test Racing Point, 0.028s faster than team-mate and simulator driver Nico Yelloly. Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1'18.101 2 Antonio Fuoco Ferrari 1'18.182 +0.081s 3 Alexander Albon Toro Rosso 1'18.263 +0.162s 4 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 1'18.578 +0.477s 5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'18.666 +0.565s 6 Nicholas Latifi Williams 1'18.915 +0.814s 7 Nikita Mazepin Mercedes 1'19.146 +1.045s 8 Jack Aitken Renault 1'20.684 +2.583s 9 Oliver Turvey McLaren 1'20.712 +2.611s 10 Dan Ticktum Red Bull 1'20.883 +2.782s 11 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1'21.196 +3.095s 12 Nick Yelloly Racing Point 1'21.224 +3.123s<doc-sep>Dan Istitene/Getty Images Mercedes continued their strong start to the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix in second practice on Friday, as Valtteri Bottas was again on top of the standings. The Finn was lighting quick around the Circuit de Catalunya, posting a time of one minute, 17.284 seconds in the day's second session. That was enough to put him ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who was 0.049 seconds behind. Earlier in the day, Bottas was fastest for Mercedes in FP1, with the Ferrari pair of Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc in second and third respectively. Here is a recap of Friday's action from Barcelona, including the full standings from both practice sessions. FP2 Recap Video Play Button Videos you might like With Bottas and Hamilton split by the two Ferrari drivers in the early runs, it wasn't completely clear which team would have the edge going into final practice and qualifying on Saturday. However, it would appear Mercedes are again the team to beat. Hamilton was first to go the top of the standings, although he wasn't there for long, as his team-mate produced a better final sector on the soft tyre to move in front again. As the Autosport Live Twitter account relayed, the Mercedes has a big advantage over Ferrari in the final two sectors of the track: The Pirelli Motorsport Twitter account noted that the drivers are already much improved on their times from 2018: There was a small worry for Mercedes at the end of the session when Hamilton complained about a loss of power, although he was able to get his car back to the garage. Ferrari appear to be the best of the rest in Barcelona, as they were a significant way behind the Silver Arrows but comfortably ahead of the other cars in the field. Those seeking some drama in FP3 and qualifying may look to the battle to be on the third row of the grid. Based on Friday's data, there's little separating the Red Bull and Haas teams, with the four drivers from those teams tightly bunched on the standings. FP1 Recap Both Ferrari drivers were fast out of the blocks, and they set the early pace on a crucial weekend for the Italian outfit. However, they were both eclipsed by Bottas once the Finn strapped on the soft tyres. He also had a close call with Max Verstappen early in the session as the Dutchman just avoided him while on a fast lap: The pair both ended the session in the pits as their cars were investigated for apparent oil leaks. That was small fry compared with Lance Stroll's late issues, though. The Racing Point driver crunched nose first into the barriers at Turn 9, drawing a red flag moments before the end of the session while causing major damage to his car. The 20-year-old was able to walk away from the crash and appeared unhurt. But Racing Point will have a job on their hands to repair the damage.<doc-sep>
Spanish Grand Prix – Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas has gone quickest in opening practice at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya in Spain. The Finnish driver clocked a 1:17.951 on the Soft compound tyre during Friday’s opening practice session in Barcelona. This placed him just 0.115 clear of the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel on the same tyre compound. Charles Leclerc was a further tenth behind, with a 1:18.172 on the Soft tyre, and he was almost half a second clear of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes. The reigning Champion didn’t appear to be enjoying the Softs, as he radioed in after his flying lap on them to say that he felt the traction was poor and that the tyres were ‘already done’. It was Romain Grosjean who was best of the rest. The Haas driver was P5 and almost a second behind the front, with the team bringing updates to this race to try rectifying their ongoing tyre issues. He was 0.3 clear of the McLaren of Carlos Sainz. Haas underlined their potential with Kevin Magnussen by getting the Dane into P7. His best time of 1:19.180 was almost 0.3 behind his teammate, but a tenth clear of the lead Red Bull of Pierre Gasly. The other RBR of Max Verstappen spent the second half of the session up on stands in the garage with an apparent oil leak. He finished the session in P12. Daniil Kvyat was P9 for Toro Rosso, with Nico Hulkenberg leading the Renault charge in P10. The pair were separated by 0.086 seconds. Daniel Ricciardo was P11 in the second Renault – the French team are yet to fit their cars with their new Spec 2 power units, which are thus expected to be fitted for FP3 onwards as the team confirmed they intend to use it for the race weekend. Lance Stroll finished P13 for Racing Point, although brought out the red flags right at the end of the session as he crashed at Turn 7. Touching the grass on approach to the corner, his correction meant he ran out of room before the gravel trap and he was powerless to stop before hitting the barrier. He was uninjured and clambered clear; his car should be OK to run in FP2. Antonio Giovinazzi was the lead Alfa Romeo with P14, two seconds from the front, just 0.009 clear of Alex Albon’s Toro Rosso. Lando Norris was P16 in the second McLaren, with Sergio Perez P17 in the second Racing Point. Kimi Raikkonen was P18 for Alfa, with the two Williams drivers of Robert Kubica and George Russell rounding out the order.