Australian Daniel Ricciardo was third-quickest for Red Bull ahead of his teammate Dutchman Max Verstappen
Britain's Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton topped the times for a resurgent Mercedes team in yesterday's's second free practice for the Spanish Grand Prix. Hamilton, the world championship leader headed the Red Bull pairing after a closely-contested session.
The defending four-time champion set his best time of one minute and 18.259 seconds on a set of soft tyres — rather than the usually faster super-soft tyres — as he regained a competitive edge after teammate Finn Valtteri Bottas had earlier topped the opening practice times.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo was third-quickest for Red Bull ahead of his teammate Dutchman Max Verstappen. This meant that Germany's four-time champion Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari, who trails Briton Hamilton by four points after the opening four races of the season, was pushed down to fourth ahead of Bottas and fellow-Finn Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari.
Hamilton took over at the top of the drivers' standings following his lucky victory two weeks ago in Baku. But admitted he was struggling for outright speed — a problem he may have done something to rectify with Mercedes upgrades used yesterday.