Hamilton on top in Spanish Grand Prix practice

Lewis Hamilton put Mercedes on top of the Friday practice timesheets at the Spanish Grand Prix with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz second fastest in front of his home fans at the Circuit de Catalunya and four teams closely matched.

McLaren's Lando Norris had set the pace in first practice, 0.024 quicker than Red Bull's triple Formula One world champion Max Verstappen, and the Briton was third in the second FP2 session.

Verstappen dropped to fifth in that session, albeit on slower medium tyres compared to others on softs, with Alpine's Pierre Gasly a surprisingly fast fourth and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc sixth.

"Today we just tried a few set ups out there in FP1 and FP2 and we have been trying to fine tune the car a little bit," Verstappen said. "I think the day itself has been positive and a bit more normal without any issues."

Seven times world champion Hamilton set a best time of one minute 13.264 seconds, 0.022 quicker than Sainz, after Norris had led FP1 with a lap of 1:14.228.

"FP1 wasn't the best session for us but we still learned quite a lot. FP2 was a lot better though and the car was feeling great," said Hamilton.

"The track was very hot, so it was tough on the tyres, especially on the long run. Overall, though, it didn't feel like we were too far off being right in the mix at the front.

"Hopefully we can continue the momentum from today into Saturday and get closer to our competitors ahead."

Sainz was third on those first practice timesheets as Formula One prepares for a triple-header of races on successive weekends.

Verstappen's team mate Sergio Perez, who will have a three place grid penalty on Sunday carried over from Canada, was fifth and 13th respectively.

"The lack of overtaking around here means it will be very important to be high up in order to get into a good position on Sunday," said Perez.

Mercedes's George Russell was eighth in session two, just behind McLaren's Oscar Piastri.

"Our long run pace in FP1 was competitive. In FP2, it seemed that our single lap pace was slightly stronger than our long run speed but overall the car is feeling strong," Russell said.