Abbi Pulling
2024 F1 Academy champion on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

We saw last year how it can turn - Verstappen was 100 points back and just missed out on the title.

Oscar Piastri gets the closest to George Russell's soft tyre time - he's 0.048 seconds away - but the Australian had a few twitches across his lap and stays in second place.

George Russell needs a decent haul of points in round seven to make up for his disappointment in both Canada and Monaco. The Mercedes man jumps above Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri with his opening qualifying simulation with a time of 1:15.435.

Title leader Kimi Antonelli is fourth after his soft flyer, 0.580 seconds off the pace of team-mate Russell.

Let's see what Piastri can do on the softs.

Image source, Reuters

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

It is now Kimi's to lose. He is so far ahead. As much as he says, 'I haven't won the championship - how can I lose it?' he's in a position where he should win the championship now, mathematically. That's the sort of thing that can weigh on your mind.

Charles Leclerc is the first of the frontrunners to do a flying lap on the soft tyre. The Monegasque driver crosses the line and goes second with a 1:15.799, which is down on Oscar Piastri's marker on the medium compound.

Valtteri Bottas is the only driver yet to make it out on to the circuit, so is there an issue for the Finnish driver?

Yes, there is.

Bottas has an ECU issue," says Cadillac.

"We are reprogramming with a view to get him out on track in the later stage of the session."

The bike has arrived to give Liam Lawson a lift back to the Racing Bulls garage - he'll have to regroup and go again tomorrow.

There are a few soft tyres popping up on the timing tower, including four-time world champion Max Verstappen.

Liam Lawson is safely out of the car as the marshals arrive on the scene to remove his Racing Bulls. The New Zealander was exiting the pits when he called his team. "I have nothing. Ah, the gearbox broke," he said to his engineer.

Lawson comes to a stoppublished at 16:16 BST 12 June

16:16 BST 12 June

Liam Lawson has come to a stop near the pit lane. The Racing Bulls driver has lost power, and now the virtual safety car is deployed.

Kimi Antonelli is aiming for a sixth consecutive race win this weekend in Barcelona. The teenager is back in the car for second practice and his opening push lap is looking quick. He reaches Turn 10 but he runs wide and aborts his attempt.

George Russell, meanwhile, completes his flyer and goes second on the board, two tenths off Oscar Piastri's top time.

Oscar Piastri claimed his fifth win of the 2025 season in Barcelona last year, and he's been the only McLaren driver banking points in the past two races following world champion Lando Norris' misfortunes.

The Australian's time on the mediums is 1:15.724, way clear of team-mate Norris, who is fourth on the timesheets and more than a second off Piastri's pace.

Cadillac almost had their first point in Formula 1 last week but Sergio Perez, who finished 10th, was added to the long list of drivers who were whacked with a penalty and was eventually dropped down the order to P15. The Mexican is back in the car after American Colton Herta's stint and is one of the first cars out on track on a set of the medium tyres.

Max Verstappen has clocked an early quick time of 1:16.452 but that'sbeen wiped out by the McLaren of Oscar Piastri, who goes seven tenths faster than the Red Bull to sit top.

Abbi Pulling
2024 F1 Academy champion on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Barcelona is one of the circuits with so much lateral load that the peak of the tyres is one lap.

Image source, Alex Albon X

Alex Albon will celebrate a milestone weekend in Barcelona, as he is set to become Williams’ leading all-time grand prix starter on Sunday.

The 30-year-old, who joined the team in 2022, will surpass 1992 world champion Nigel Mansell's record of 95 starts when he takes his place on the grid for his 96th in Spain.

To celebrate the achievement, Albon is wearing a special helmet design in honour of Mansell's championship-winning helmet, and he said it was "lovely" to show the Briton and have a chat.

"Nigel is very relaxed, he's so nice and such a family man," said Albon. "It's not really passing over the torch but I feel like I'm taking over a legend."

Off we pop again.

Second practice is green.

BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Alice Powell, Abbi Pulling and Andrew Benson are back with us and ready to take us through second practice.

To tune in, click the 'listen live' tabe at the top of this page, head over to BBC Sounds and search for Sports Extra if you're out this afternoon or you can ask your smart speaker to "play Sports Extra".

Image source, Pierre Gasly X

If you're just dropping in for the first time today you may have missed the news that Pierre Gasly's third place at the Monaco Grand Prix has been reinstated after Alpine successfully appealed against a penalty for pit-lane speeding.

He received two five-second time penalties during last weekend's race which dropped him from P3 down to seventh. Gasly said he was "heartbroken" after learning he would miss out on the podium celebrations in Monte Carlo but following today's news, he wrote on social media "we got it back!"

"Been a rollercoaster of emotions the last few days, weird celebrations, but most importantly, incredibly happy we got our result back," added the Frenchman.

"Huge thanks to my amazing team and all the people who supported us!! Thanks FIA & F1 for the transparency of the situation. One to remember."

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The session was relatively incident-free, although Cadillac's reserve driver Colton Herta had a moment over the kerbs at Turn Eight, as did Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Beganovic.

Charles Leclerc was testing a major aerodynamic upgrade on the Ferrari, including a new floor, which Lewis Hamilton will also use in the second session this afternoon.

Briton Luke Browning, Williams' reserve driver, managed no laps as a result of an electrical problem in Alex Albon's car.

Image source, Getty Images

George Russell got his weekend off to a positive start in an opening practice session that was free of any drama. The Mercedes driver topped the timesheets with a marker of 1:16.363 on the soft compound.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri was second, two tenths behind Russell, Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari third and four-time world champion Max Verstappen was fourth.

Two rookies also made it into the top six in first practice, with Leonardo Fornaroli, sitting in for world champion Lando Norris at McLaren, in fifth and Estonia Paul Aron sixth fastest in place of Audi's Nico Hulkenberg.