The fifth round of the 2017 Formula One World Championship began with two practice sessions on Friday at the Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya, as teams prepared for the Spanish Grand Prix Sunday. Both 90-minute sessions were run under warm temperatures, a vast departure from when teams were in Barcelona two months ago for winter testing.
Leading the way in FP1 was Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, whose fast lap of 1:21.521 was .029 of a second better than the next quickest time of his teammate Valtteri Bottas.
"First practice was very, very good but in second practice the track changed and shifted quite a lot, so it was slippery and quite a lot slower for everyone - especially with the gusts of wind. It was massively challenging but still fun nonetheless", Lewis Hamilton said.
"The team has done an amazing job with the upgrades and the car is working just as we expected. It's been a much better start to the weekend for me than in Sochi, so I'm very happy. We've just got to keep our heads down and keep working, we want to be number one."
The Mercedes duo also topped FP2, with Hamilton’s time of 1:20.802 bettering Bottas’ mark by .090 of a second.
First practice session results:
| 1. | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 01:21.521 | ||
| 2. | V. Bottas | Mercedes | 01:21.550 | ||
| 3. | K. Raikkonen | Ferrari | 01:22.456 | ||
| 4. | S. Vettel | Ferrari | 01:22.600 | ||
| 5. | M. Verstappen | Red Bull | 01:22.706 | ||
| 6. | D. Ricciardo | Red Bull | 01:23.084 | ||
| 7. | K. Magnussen | Haas | 01:23.670 | ||
| 8. | R. Grosjean | Haas | 01:23.758 | ||
| 9. | N. Hulkenberg | Renault | 01:23.993 | ||
| 10. | C. Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso | 01:24.004 | ||
| 11. | S. Perez | Force India | 01:24.188 | ||
| 12. | E. Ocon | Force India | 01:24.324 | ||
| 13. | S. Vandoorne | McLaren | 01:24.400 | ||
| 14. | F. Massa | Williams | 01:24.618 | ||
| 15. | D. Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 01:24.642 | ||
| 16. | M. Ericsson | Sauber | 01:24.966 | ||
| 17. | P. Wehrlein | Sauber | 01:25.182 | ||
| 18. | L. Stroll | Williams | 01:25.919 | ||
| 19. | S. Sirotkin | Renault | 01:26.293 | ||
| 20. | F. Alonso | McLaren | no time |
Second practice session results:
| 1. | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 01:20.802 | ||
| 2. | V. Bottas | Mercedes | 01:20.892 | ||
| 3. | K. Raikkonen | Ferrari | 01:21.112 | ||
| 4. | S. Vettel | Ferrari | 01:21.220 | ||
| 5. | M. Verstappen | Red Bull | 01:21.438 | ||
| 6. | D. Ricciardo | Red Bull | 01:21.585 | ||
| 7. | N. Hulkenberg | Renault | 01:21.687 | ||
| 8. | J. Palmer | Renault | 01:21.992 | ||
| 9. | F. Massa | Williams | 01:22.015 | ||
| 10. | C. Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso | 01:22.265 | ||
| 11. | R. Grosjean | Haas | 01:22.371 | ||
| 12. | E. Ocon | Force India | 01:22.520 | ||
| 13. | S. Vandoorne | McLaren | 01:22.693 | ||
| 14. | S. Perez | Force India | 01:22.722 | ||
| 15. | K. Magnussen | Haas | 01:23.007 | ||
| 16. | M. Ericsson | Sauber | 01:23.082 | ||
| 17. | L. Stroll | Williams | 01:23.221 | ||
| 18. | D. Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 01:23.236 | ||
| 19. | P. Wehrlein | Sauber | 01:23.599 | ||
| 20. | F. Alonso | McLaren | 01:24.077 |
