Charles Leclerc fastest in Hungarian Grand Prix practice

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fastest at the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest, ahead of the twelfth round of the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship.

George Russell’s Mercedes was fastest in a rain-affected 1 free time trial, before Leclerc set the day’s fastest time in the dry FP2 race at 1min 17.686sec, 0.015sec faster than Lando Norris (McLaren) and Pierre Gasly (Alpine).

Hungarian GP FP1 results: Russell fastest from Piastri

What happened in the 1st Hungarian Grand Prix free practice?

The session started on a dry track, but Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez crashed just three minutes into the session at Turn 5, red flagging the session before any serious laptops were set.

He dropped a wheel off the track before turning in, which sent him spinning into the tire wall, smashing the front-left corner of the car and damaging the team’s new upgrades. Of his mistake, he said, “No, I can’t believe it.”

Once the session resumed, it started raining – causing Valtteri Bottas to spin his fine Alfa Romeo at Turn 12.

After a run severely limited by the conditions, with all cars now on intermediate tyres, Carlos Sainz caused a second red flag when he spun his Ferrari at the exit of Turn 3 and got stuck on the grass.

After the appeal, Russell and Oscar Piastri (McLaren) exchanged the fastest time between them, with Russell winning their duel by 0.359 seconds when he achieved 1m 38.795 seconds. Lance Stroll was the third fastest for the Aston Martin, ahead of the second McLaren of Norris, the second Aston of Fernando Alonso and Bottas.

Seven drivers failed to set a time, including Max Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and the returning Daniel Ricciardo (Alpha Tauri). His final teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, also caused some damage to his car’s front wing after shutting it down in turn five.

Hungarian GP results FP2: Leclerc faster than Norris

What happened in Hungarian GP Free Practice 2?

The track was dry and, therefore, immediately busy after the limited running from the morning session.

The early leader was Logan Sargeant, after Williams opted to run the soft tire well before his competitors, with a lap of 1m 18.836s. With more teams running, Tsunoda accounted for 1m17.934s before Norris topped that with 1m17.701s.

Perez’s day got worse when he spoiled a bunch of softs with a huge lock-up in Turn 1.

Leclerc took the P1 for Ferrari with 1m17.686s, 0.015 seconds faster than Norris. Gasly was third with the fastest time for Albin, ahead of Tsunoda and Gasly’s teammate Esteban Ocon.

Verstappen was 11 years old^y the fastest, with Perez touchdown on the 18th^y. Russell, the FP1 driver, was the slowest of all in this session.