PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.

The Spanish Grand Prix weekend is officially underway, people! Teams and drivers completed FP1 and FP2 in Barcelona today and once again we have some varied results. The three week break that separated Bahrain and Spain, with a little in-season test thrown in between, allowed the teams to update their cars and add improvements to their pace and aerodynamics.

Let's begin with looking at our frontrunners. Jenson Button and McLaren topped the timesheets after second practice followed by Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull. Both of them were significantly faster than their team mates but Mark Webber believes that was due to them setting a flying lap on the soft, 'option' tyre. Hamilton finished in fourth, which is still a promising position, but Webber was much lower down in the pack; he finished 7th overall. Mercedes' Nico Rosberg also had a positive session by finishing third fastest. These three teams are your usual contenders for pole on Saturday but which one of these drivers will take it? Only Lewis, Sebastian and Nico have sat on pole so far this season but I'm sure Jenson will be hungry for that grid position as well. It has been a long time since he's experienced life at the very front of the starting grid.
'Who do I think will get pole?' I hear you ask... I'm going to go with Sebastian!

One of the teams who brought much needed updates to firstly Mugello and now to Spain is Ferrari. No one expected Ferrari to be challenging the likes of Red Bull and McLaren this early on in the season but we had hoped to see them with increased pace, particularly in qualifying. They had mixed fortunes in practice today finishing fastest in the first session but eleventh in the second. Of course, we will have to wait for qualifying tomorrow to how much of an impact their updates have had to their underlying pace but I do think it will be a struggle for them to reach Q3. Hopefully, they are on an upward learning curve and can improve further as the season continues. But for now they have a qualifying session to deal with and Fernando Alonso will be eager to give the home fans something to cheer about at his home Grand Prix.

This has been a fairly brief summary of the practice sessions but the most interesting thing to look out for tomorrow will, of course, be the battle for pole position; as far as I am concerned anyway. Last year it was far more exciting to look at how the grid lines up behind Vettel but this year the excitement in the top-10 shootout has been restored and it is quite hard to call it. Look out for the McLarens, Red Bulls, Mercedes' and Lotuses and keep an eye out for what Ferrari and Alonso can manage.

Let me know who you're backing for pole position, I've told you my prediction above, by commenting or tweeting me! I'll see you back here tomorrow for a run-down on Qualifying and what we can expect from the race.

Aqsa, @aqsasformula

(Images: dailymail.co.uk)