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Formula 1
Hungarian GP
F1 Hungarian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2
Updates from the Friday practice sessions at the Hungaroring for the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix
Following Charles Leclerc’s crash while leading last weekend’s French GP, Max Verstappen picked up the win and extended his F1 world championship lead to 63 points over his Ferrari rival.
But the main talking point in the F1 paddock has been Sebastian Vettel’s announcement that he will retire from F1 at the end of 2022.
The Hungarian GP marks the final race before F1’s summer break.
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By: James Newbold, Lewis Duncan, Haydn Cobb
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Summary
- Leclerc leads Norris as Friday practice in Hungary concludes
- Sainz slots into third, with Verstappen fourth for Red Bull
- Mercedes off the pace with Russell eighth and Hamilton 11th
- Vettel announces F1 retirement on the eve of the event
Leaderboard
- Leclerc, Ferrari
- Norris, McLaren
- Sainz, Ferrari
- Verstappen, Red Bull
- Ricciardo, McLaren
- Alonso, Alpine
- Vettel, Aston Martin
- Russell, Mercedes
- Perez, Red Bull
- Bottas, Alfa Romeo
Checkered flag
Final practice starts at 12pm BST tomorrow, so be sure to check back in just before then to follow the build-up to the track action. Until then have a lovely rest of your Friday! Go well!
With that we'll call time on this live coverage of Friday practice. But the fun doesn't stop here as we get to do it all again tomorrow with final practice and qualifying and, spoiler, there's a strong chance of rain. And a lot of it.
Breaking news
Here's the full recap on an intriguing FP2 for the Hungarian GP:
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-hungarian-gp-leclerc-leads-fp2-from-norris-and-sainz/10345255/
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Who doesn't love a practice start on the grid? That concludes the F1 track action for today. It's been a good day on paper for Ferrari and McLaren, less so for Red Bull and Mercedes.
Checkered flag
The chequered flag is out to mark the end of the session. Leclerc will take the headlines with a 0.217s advantage over Norris.
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"Stay away from other cars to protect the parts," Norris is told over team radio. "I am... tell me where I am not," is the rather grumpy reply. McLaren is really keen to keep his car in one piece, but that's no surprise given he'll end FP2 second in the times.
Leclerc is the next driver to have a mini-moment at Turn 4, touching the inside kerb which unsettles his Ferrari on exit. He runs wide but avoids any further drama.
Ocon's got a splash of flow-vis paint on the back of his rear wing, so the team must be really ticking through its programme to have time to do that. There's been no stoppages, mind, so no need to play catch-up.
Hamilton catches an snap of oversteer at Turn 4 but has to take to the run-off and states that the "car's unstable" over team radio. Can't disagree with that assessment.
The good news is Leclerc gets going again without much trouble, and his time spent in the garage was fairly short after that earlier issue.
Ah, that's awkward. Leclerc hits the pitstop jack device as he attempts to leave the Ferrari garage and has to stop to get the mechanics to free it from under his front wing. Whoops.
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"These oscillations in Turn 4 and 11 are a joke," Verstappen says over team radio. I wonder what their best one-liners are.
Leclerc has pitted with a suspected mechanical issue after chatter over the team radio. Ferrari is checking the car over in the team garage.
It has been a very encouraging FP2 for McLaren so far with Norris second and Ricciardo fifth. Could the Woking-based team be in the mix at the front?
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"We want to be mindful with kerbs to protect this floor, OK?" Norris is told over McLaren team radio. Translation: Don't chuck the car off the track, we need it for the rest of the weekend.
Albon is back-on track. Whatever blighted the Williams driver has been fixed and he's lapping on the hards.
The majority of drivers have finished their soft tyre quali-style runs so it is long run o'clock for the final 21-and-a-bit minutes of the session.
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"What the hell is going on at Turn 1? I just cannot get round the corner without locking," Russell says over Mercedes team radio, as he pops into eighth place ahead of Perez.
It has been a low-key FP2 for Red Bull so far and continues that way as Verstappen only goes fourth fastest and team-mate Perez is down in eighth.
Still no sign of Albon after he pitted following his Turn 1 spin. The Williams driver is now at the bottom of the times.
Next time around Sainz slots into third place, pushing Ricciardo down one spot after an impressive lap from him moments earlier. Both McLarens in the top four as it stands.
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"Traffic with this stupid guy, this Williams," Sainz says over team radio. The Williams in question is Latifi, who holds up the Spaniard at Turn 5 and wrecks his push effort.
Stopwatch
Alonso is also looking strong this afternoon, as he goes third with a 1m19.049s on the softs.
Stopwatch
Norris kicked up a load of dust with that half-off which has caused the stripey yellow and red flag to be shown at the final corner. It doesn't stop Leclerc punching in a 1m18.445s to regain top spot.
Stopwatch
...Norris goes top on the softs, despite running wide at the final corner and over the grass with his left-side tyres, to set a 1m18.662s.
Lots of laps being clocked up on the softs so the times are set to tumble...
Stopwatch
Russell, who backed out of his first soft tyre timed lap due to Albon's spin, pops in a 1m19.711s to go fourth. That's still 0.8s off Leclerc's leading effort.
Green flag
That's an odd one. Albon's rears completely lock up under braking which sends him into a spin. He manages to restart the car and gets going again but that's wrecked his tyres.
Yellow flag
Albon has stopped at the side of the track and is facing the wrong way at Turn 1.
Meanwhile Vettel popped up to fifth for Aston Martin - only behind the Ferraris and Red Bull. What retirement?