Lando Norris believes McLaren are heading in the right direction after a promising second practice at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

Norris has endured a torrid time in the last two races, having had to retire from the last two races in Canada and Monaco, but topped the time sheets in Friday's second session.

He was 0.009 seconds quicker than George Russell, who had been fastest in the first practice.

McLaren had the added boost of Oscar Piastri finishing third, 0.057secs off the pace, ahead of Charles Leclerc, who also had troubles in Monaco with a late crash.

"Very different from the last two tracks in Monaco and Canada," Norris said.

"It's quicker, playing with the car in a very different regime than the last few weeks, and it seems to be working in a better place than the last few weeks.

"A reasonable Friday. Still a good few things to improve. It's hot, and I don't think anyone's going to be that happy. It's difficult with the wind and with the conditions, but it seems to be working better than the last few weeks, which is a good sign.

"We're up there with the people we want to be with. It's hard to know what fuel loads others are on, but we're just happy we're heading in the right direction after the last couple of weeks."

Kimi Antonelli, the runaway leader at this stage in the Drivers’ Championship, only took part in one session, with reserve driver Frederik Vesti driving in one of the mandated junior driver days.

However, he was out on the track in the later session and ended up finishing 0.274secs slower than team-mate Russell.

"The tyres are overheating quite a lot," Antonelli said. "Just trying to find the best balance.

"With only one lap, it is always difficult, but overall, there is still quite a bit of work to do.

"But I am quite confident ahead of [qualifying]. Long run was good, but looking forward to [Saturday] and the changes we're going to make."

Lewis Hamilton, who finished second in Monaco last weekend, was only ninth fastest on Friday, one of those behind Max Verstappen, another retiree in Monte-Carlo, as he was sixth fastest.