Mercedes diver Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets for the second and final free practice session here at the Catalunya circuit on Friday as he continued to show the paddock that the upgrades Mercedes delivered were definitely doing the job.

Teammate Valtteri Bottas was just behind the three time world champion by 9 one hundredths of a second while the two Ferrari's of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel were third and fourth fastest but three and fourth tenths off the pace respectively.

‘It was a pretty good day for the team,' said Mercedes man James Alison .”We have some new bits on the car for this weekend that we wanted to try out and ensure everything was working well with those and it seems like it is. At a track that can suffer from high tyre degradation we're keen to ensure that our car is good on both the long-runs and the short-runs. We feel like we're in better shape in that compared to winter testing. We've definitely made some progress and we'll be in with a shout if we keep up the good work this weekend.

The Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were fifth and sixth quickest, just as they were in first practice only two tenths off the pace set by the Ferrari's a significant improvement from the team, who are also sporting an upgraded package here this weekend.

The two Renaults finished a pleasing seventh and eight fastest while Felipe Massa and Carlos Sainz rounded out the top ten.

Sadly, Fernando Alonso's woes continued in the second session when after his McLaren Honda failed to even complete one flying lap in the opening ninety minute session, session two saw further humiliation when despite putting in 21 laps, he was 20th and last, over three seconds off the pace.

"The engine feels slower, amazing," Alonso sarcastically said over the team's radio for the world to hear.

Times from FP2

  1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:20.802
    2. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, + 0.090
    3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, + 0.310
    4. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, + 0.418
    5. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, + 0.636
    6. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, + 0.783
    7. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault, + 0.885
    8. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, + 1.190
    9. Felipe Massa, Williams, + 1.213
    10. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, + 1.463
    11. Romain Grosjean, Haas, + 1.569
    12. Esteban Ocon, Force India, + 1.718
    13. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, + 1.891
    14. Sergio Perez, Force India, +1.920
    15. Kevin Magnussen, Haas, +2.205
    16. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, +2.280
    17. Lance Stroll, Williams, +2.419
    18. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, +2.434
    19. Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber, +2.797
    20. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, +3.275