Antonelli steals the show as FP2 sees Madring claim its first victim

The start of the session saw Mercedes once again looking very strong, just as in FP1, with Kimi Antonelli setting the early benchmark with a 1:34.4, immediately putting almost a full second between himself and the rest of the field on the medium tyres.

George Russell also confirmed the W17's strong pace, moving into second place shortly afterwards, two tenths behind his team-mate, with both Mercedes drivers making a significant difference in the final sector.

Ferrari responded through Charles Leclerc a few minutes later, with the Monegasque setting the second-fastest time, just one thousandth of a second behind Antonelli on the same tyre compound.

Max Verstappen also joined the fight after 15 minutes, setting a new benchmark of 1:34.378 on the medium tyres, 50 thousandths clear of Antonelli. Lewis Hamilton was also in contention to go fastest, but a lock-up cost him time in the third sector.

Verstappen's spell at the top was short-lived, however, as Mercedes hit back with both drivers. Antonelli lowered the benchmark once again to a 1:33.926, becoming the only driver to dip below the 1:34 barrier at that stage, with Russell just 99 thousandths behind. Shortly afterwards, Verstappen's previous lap time was deleted for track limits.

Once the drivers switched to proper qualifying simulations, Leclerc was the first to set a time on the soft tyres, going fastest with a 1:33.820, one tenth ahead of Antonelli, while Arvid Lindblad was a surprise second, just 80 thousandths off the Ferrari driver.

Antonelli then settled the matter shortly afterwards, posting a 1:33.652 to return to the top of the timesheets, while Hamilton moved into second place, around a tenth and a half behind and just nine thousandths ahead of his team-mate.

Leclerc responded to Hamilton by moving into second place, 113 thousandths behind Antonelli. With 24 minutes remaining, Arvid Lindblad hit the wall, bringing out the first red flag of the weekend.

The young British driver lost control at Turn 13 and slammed into the barriers in a heavy impact, leaving his car badly damaged. Race control immediately suspended the session with a red flag, allowing the recovery crews to safely remove the car.

Once the session resumed, the drivers got a first taste of the race pace, although the heavy traffic on track made it difficult to complete long, uninterrupted stints.