Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton remained quickest during the second practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix, narrowly edging team-mate Valtteri Bottas, as rivals drew closer.
Hamilton and Bottas, on Mediums, had led the way by almost a second in the first session on Friday morning, and the pair emerged quickest again in the afternoon running, as the field switched to the Soft tyres for low-fuel runs.
Hamilton posted a 1:20.802 to finish 0.090s ahead of Bottas, who ran through the Turn 7 gravel trap late on, while both Ferrari and Red Bull drivers finished closer to the Mercedes duo than in Friday's opening practice.
Kimi Räikkönen finished third, 0.310s down, with Sebastian Vettel a further tenth of a second back in fourth, as both had minor issues.
Räikkönen was told to cool his Ferrari during the low-fuel stage of the session and was later asked to box, due to a suspected engine issue, but swiftly returned to action after running through the pit lane.
Vettel, meanwhile, encountered a snap of oversteer at Turn 4 during the closing moments of running and skated through the gravel, before recovering to the circuit.
Red Bull occupied its typical 2017 positions of fifth and sixth but Max Verstappen, having run through the gravel at the high-speed Turn 9 early on, finished 0.636s down on Hamilton, closer than in previous events.
Daniel Ricciardo placed sixth, 0.783s behind Hamilton, while Renault maintained its encouraging one-lap form with Nico Hülkenberg and Jolyon Palmer seventh and eighth respectively, its best practice showing of the campaign.
Felipe Massa was next up for Williams, while Carlos Sainz Jr. finished in the top 10 once more for Toro Rosso, the Spaniard losing a part of his STR12 after running onto the Turn 9 exit kerb.
The session was briefly halted in order for marshals to safely retrieve the debris.
Haas was unable to maintain its pace from FP1 as Romain Grosjean finished 11th, with Kevin Magnussen 15th, the Dane complaining that something on his VF-17 felt “broken” early on.
Force India’s Esteban Ocon and Sergio Pérez took 12th and 14th, split by McLaren-Honda’s Stoffel Vandoorne, providing some encouragement for the outfit by finishing 1.8s off the pace.
Marcus Ericsson took 16th for Sauber, ahead of Williams’ Lance Stroll, Daniil Kvyat, who reported an ill-feeling with the throttle, Pascal Wehrlein and Fernando Alonso, whose dismal day continued.
Alonso spent the opening half an hour in the garage after his FP1 problems but his timed laps left him at the foot of the standings, 3.2s off the pace.
“The engine feels much slower than before, amazing,” Alonso said after completing his quickest time, ending the session with the fewest laps completed (21).
