Ferrari emerged as one of the biggest winners from Friday practice at the Spanish Grand Prix after long-run simulations suggested Charles Leclerc could hold a decisive advantage in a race expected to be dominated by tyre management rather than outright speed.
The second free practice session at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya revealed exceptionally high tyre degradation across the Formula One grid, with drivers in some stints losing up to five seconds per lap after only 10 laps, even while running on the C3 medium compound.
The findings have dramatically altered expectations for Sunday’s race, where tyre preservation is now expected to play a greater role than qualifying pace.
Leclerc posted the strongest long-run average for Ferrari, reinforcing optimism that the Scuderia’s latest package of eight aerodynamic upgrades has improved not only outright performance but also tyre durability.
Ferrari has traditionally struggled to bring its tyres up to operating temperature quickly, but that characteristic appeared to work in the team’s favor under Barcelona’s demanding conditions by reducing long-term degradation.
After adjustments for tyre compounds and stint lengths, Leclerc’s average pace was estimated to be 0.16 seconds per lap quicker than Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli during race simulations.
The data painted a different picture for the other frontrunners. Lewis Hamilton finished more than eight-tenths slower than Leclerc in comparable long runs, while Mercedes’ George Russell lost even more ground as tyre wear increased.
The results surprised many observers, as Barcelona has historically favored Mercedes and McLaren while Ferrari has often struggled at the Spanish circuit.
Although McLaren remained highly competitive over a single flying lap, its long-run performance suffered significantly from tyre degradation. The reigning constructors’ champions averaged around four-tenths of a second slower than Ferrari during race simulations, leaving the team with important overnight work before qualifying.
Mercedes also displayed encouraging one-lap speed but could not consistently match Ferrari over extended stints.
Red Bull’s position remained difficult to judge. Max Verstappen finished only sixth in qualifying simulations, while the team’s race pace was broadly comparable to McLaren’s but still behind Ferrari and Mercedes.
Sector analysis suggested Red Bull excelled through Barcelona’s high-speed opening sector but lost valuable time in slower corners. Ferrari, by contrast, sacrificed straight-line speed yet gained significant time in the technical middle sector, while Mercedes and McLaren appeared consistently competitive throughout the lap.
Behind the leading teams, Racing Bulls and Audi continued the encouraging form they displayed in Monaco. Arvid Lindblad finished seventh during second practice, while Gabriel Bortoleto placed eighth for Audi.
Audi also impressed during race simulations, with Nico Hulkenberg recording the strongest long-run pace among the midfield teams. His average deficit of just over one second per lap comfortably outperformed the rest of the midfield, where Haas driver Oliver Bearman emerged as the next-best performer despite trailing by nearly two seconds per lap.
Williams endured another difficult day at a circuit where the team has not scored points for a decade. Long-run simulations placed Williams well off the pace, ahead of only Cadillac and Aston Martin.
Tyres remained the defining storyline throughout Friday. Performance differences between Pirelli’s soft, medium and hard compounds proved much smaller than expected, with the anticipated advantage of the soft tyre largely disappearing because of rapid degradation.
Pirelli deliberately selected a softer tyre allocation for this year’s Spanish Grand Prix, bringing the C2, C3 and C4 compounds instead of the traditional C1 through C3 range used in previous seasons. The decision was intended to encourage more varied race strategies, but Friday’s data suggested teams may have little choice.
Even under last year’s conditions, a two-stop strategy proved the fastest approach. With degradation substantially higher this weekend, engineers now believe at least two pit stops will almost certainly be required.
“We wanted to encourage more pit stops, at least more than one,” Pirelli Motorsport Director Dario Marrafuschi told Sky. “We expected two stops, but under these conditions tyre degradation is becoming very severe.”
“The rear tyres are overheating significantly, making life extremely difficult for the drivers. On Sunday, at least two pit stops will probably be necessary. Everything beyond that will depend on the conditions.”
With teams now analyzing Friday’s extensive data overnight, the competitive order could still shift before qualifying. However, Ferrari’s encouraging long-run pace has positioned the Italian team as a serious contender for victory if it can translate its tyre advantage into race-day performance.
