REPORT: Data collected after Friday in Spain

Friday is complete at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and the team has plenty of data to pour over after two clean hours of Practice.

At a venue we have found difficult in recent years, Sporting Director Sven Smeets is pleased with the step forward made from 2023 to 2024, but acknowledges that there is work to be done.

“Last year we struggled at this track, especially when the track temperature went up,” Sven shared.

“Today we learned that the FW46 is better balanced and a good step forward from last year, but that we still have to solve some issues we encountered in both Free Practice sessions to find performance for Qualifying and the race.

“We will be working hard tonight to go through all the data and try to find some solutions to help the drivers.

“Sunday seems still to be a cooler day which could help us to find performance.”

Alex Albon ended the opening hour of Practice in P10, with a best time of 1:15.417 from his 25 laps.

He’d add another 34 tours as the wind picked up in FP2, with a best time of 1:14.807 good enough for P19.

“FP1 was pretty good,” Alex reflected. “We haven't gone well in Barcelona historically, but we've made some good steps forward compared to last year.

“Going into FP2, we made a couple of changes to combat issues from FP1, but as the track gripped up, the same issues continued.

“We'll revisit overnight and see what we can do to address them.

“It's tough to be in P19 and P20, so I'm hoping that the track cools and the wind dies down to help us find a bit more pace.”

Logan Sargeant started his Spanish GP weekend with 25 laps in FP1, setting a 1:15.752 to place P18.

More time would be found later in the day, with a 1:15.070 his best from 33 laps in FP2.

“It’s been a bit of a tricky day,” Sarge commented. “This track has always been difficult for us and it’s proving to be so this weekend. “There’s been positive flashes today like our long run pace which doesn’t look as bad as what it did last year.

“We had a bit of a compromised run plan on low fuel. There are still things to be optimistic about, but we have some work to do to find some time for tomorrow.

“We need to get the tyre working better on low fuel. From a balance point of view, we’re not too far away. We’ll do some digging tonight.”