Barcelona FP2: Hamilton tops but Ferrari close

On the evidence of what we have seen in the first day of free practice of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, Mercedes have arrived in Barcelona with an edge thanks to the raft of updates to the W08.

As a result their drivers have hogged the top of the timing screens all day, with Lewis Hamilton fractionally faster than teammate Valtteri Bottas.

Hamilton's best lap time of 1:21.802 was nine hundredths of a second quicker than teammate Bottas. Perhaps more significant was the impressive long run pace of the Silver Arrows during the ninety minutes.

Next best in FP2 was Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen, three tenths adrift of the top time, ahead of Sebastian Vettel in fourth. The gap in the morning was almost a second and it could well be that the Reds have not upped the ante yet, keeping their powder dry for when it matters.

Red Bull unleashed their highly revised RB13 and appear to have reduced the gap to Ferrari, with last years Spanish Grand Prix winner fifth fastest and Daniel Ricciardo next up in sixth. They ended the day around six tenths adrift of the benchmark time.

Renault were the surprise of the session with Nico Hulkenberg seventh fastest, within a second of Hamilton's top time, and teammate Jolyon Palmer eighth.

Misery continued for local hero Fernando Alonso after a morning when the Honda engine expired within three corners during FP1, and in FP2 the McLaren driver ended the session slowest of all.

On the plus side for the beleaguered team, Stoffel Vandoorne had a trouble free day to finish 13th on the timing screens.

Felipe Massa was ninth in the Williams, a full second up on his rookie teammate Lance Stroll down in 17th, with Carlos Sainz rounding out the top ten in the Toro Rosso as he did in FP1.