What the groups mentioned – Friday on the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix

McLaren

It was a gradual begin for Norris in Madrid, however Piastri had extra of a wrestle with one thing coming free within the footwell of his automobile. That despatched the Australian again to the pits, and he was unable to come back again out, lacking essential lap time. In the second session, it was the flip of Norris to lose working, the World Champion lacking practically your complete session with a gearbox problem. That leaves him majorly enjoying catch up tomorrow. Piastri did get loads of laps in, and bar one second at Turn 7, was solidly within the prime 10 albeit not fairly on the tempo of Ferrari and Mercedes.

Lando Norris – FP1: 1:34.947, P6; FP2: No time set, P22

“A tough day, it was good to get the laps on this morning, the place we recognized a couple of adjustments we wanted to make to the automobile, however in the end we did not get the possibility to make any progress in FP2 because of a gearbox problem.

“Whenever you come to a brand new circuit, observe time is essential, so we’re clearly on the again foot having missed FP2. We’ll work arduous in a single day wanting on the information from FP1, from Oscar’s automobile and the groups round us, and ensure we get as a lot studying as we are able to in FP3. Otherwise, it was good to get the primary laps performed right here in Madrid, it is an attention-grabbing circuit and I’m wanting ahead to getting some extra laps in forward of Qualifying tomorrow.”

Oscar Piastri – FP1: 1:35.148, P8; FP2: 1:34.200, P7

“Overall, a strong day. Lots of studying and driving on a brand new observe at all times makes issues a bit harder to get on prime of. Once you compromise right into a rhythm it’s a reasonably pleasurable one to drive however tyre administration goes to be a troublesome one, as now we have plenty of graining. I felt like we received a bit nearer in FP2, which was a constructive step, however we’re nonetheless missing tempo, so we’ll be working arduous in a single day to try to discover extra time.

“The major problem is extracting the utmost efficiency from the automobile on a road circuit like this. Hopefully tomorrow we are able to discover extra consistency and unlock the power to get that further day out of the automobile. We’ll see what we are able to do.”

Mark Temple, Technical Director, Performance

“Today introduced a major problem, notably with the gearbox problem that price Lando a considerable quantity of observe time in FP2. It’s an enormous setback on a brand new and technically demanding circuit like this, the place each lap is essential for gathering information. The situations are powerful for everybody, with excessive temperatures and low grip, so shedding that working time actually places us on the again foot heading into Saturday.

“Our focus tonight is on a deep dive into the information to see the place we are able to unlock extra efficiency. The automobile is not fairly the place we wish it to be, however now we have some clear concepts on each the chassis and driver aspect to discover. We’ll be working arduous to analyse a greater diversity of potential adjustments than standard to make sure we can provide each drivers a extra aggressive package deal for Qualifying. Maximising Lando’s observe time in FP3 will likely be our absolute precedence to assist him recuperate.”