Hungarian GP practice as it happened

By: Jake Boxall-Legge, Tom Howard

Summary


	Summary Bottas fastest in FP2 at the Hungarian GP with a 1m17.012s set on soft tyres, 0.027s ahead of team-mate Hamilton Verstappen in third nearly three-tenths of a second slower than Bottas Tsunoda makes it out for the final two minutes of FP2 following his crash in the first practice session Verstappen topped FP1 for Red Bull, 0.061s faster than Bottas
	Leaderboard 1. Bottas, Mercedes 2. Hamilton, Mercedes 3. Verstappen, Red Bull 4. Ocon, Alpine 5. Perez, Red Bull 6. Gasly, AlphaTauri 7. Alonso, Alpine 8. Vettel, Aston Martin 9. Norris, McLaren 10. Stroll, Aston Martin

Status: Stopped

17:11 That's all from us on the live blog today, but make sure you tune in tomorrow as we build up to qualifying with FP3 coverage from 11am BST, then qualifying at 2pm. See you then!

17:09 In case you missed any of the action, here's the full report from FP2: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-hungarian-gp-bottas-leads-mercedes-1-2-in-fp2/6639124/

17:09

17:09 While a potential thorn in the side of Red Bull, Alpine and Ocon can be especially pleased with their afternoon's work, with Alonso capably supporting in P7. Two Alpines in Q3 hasn't been an especially common occurrence this year, but would be a welcome lift to the Enstone team before the summer break in its efforts to get back into P5 in the constructors' title race.

17:07

17:05 But perhaps of even greater concern to Red Bull will be the deficit between Bottas and Perez - on Thursday, the Mexican was bullish (if you'll pardon the pun) on his prospects for remaining with the team next year, but ending up behind Ocon's Alpine won't fill his team with confidence.

17:03 With no other changes in the order, it's Bottas who levels the scores at 1-1 after Verstappen topped FP1 earlier. Mercedes was on top from the word go in FP2, Hamilton finishing up just 0.027s behind his team-mate while Verstappen was almost three tenths behind the pace-setting Finn.

17:02 It's only a 1m19.671s for Tsunoda, which leaves him P17. He'll be playing catch-up in FP3 tomorrow, as will AlphaTauri which will have only half the data of the other teams from FP2 - although Gasly ended up a pleasing P6, just behind Perez.

17:00 There's the checkered flag, FP2 comes to a close. But Tsunoda is still on a flying lap - where will he end up?

16:58 Here we go then, Tsunoda has made it out of the pits and has fitted the softs for a last-gasp attack.

16:57 Hamilton has just been through the pits, but it remains to be seen whether he's been fitted with a fresh set of boots. He's still on the medium tyres.

16:55 Tsunoda is suited up, so may get out of the garage for a reconnaissance lap or two just before the end. AlphaTauri cutting it fine with five minutes left on the clock...

16:53 Hamilton meanwhile has a moment at Turn 11 where the rear breaks away from him, but the Mercedes driver guides the car into the run-off with no harm done. Those mediums clearly struggling for tyre life now in the tortuous Hungarian heat.

16:52

16:52 Verstappen is still complaining over the radio that he's struggling on turn in, so decides to box for a front wing adjustment.

16:51 Still no sign yet of Tsunoda making it out of the garage - with 10 minutes left, will we get to see the Japanese on track in FP2?

16:50 Alonso, Vettel and Stroll are the only other drivers in the frame for Q3 evaluating mediums at this stage, with the majority on softs. Russell, intriguingly, is also on the mediums - he's running down in P15 at the moment, with Raikkonen just ahead in the 'Class C' battle.

16:49 Nobody out there is getting close to their personal best times, as they get some race running in. Tellingly, most of the field are running the softs apart from the Red Bull and Mercedes cars, who clearly believe they will have no problem progressing through Q2 on the medium.

16:46 Ocon's first lap on those soft tyres was a high 1m22s, so he's also running with plenty of fuel to simulate graining in the early laps of the GP.

16:45 Bottas's last lap on the mediums was in the low 1m22s, which suggests he's carrying a decent chunk of fuel. Meanwhile Verstappen is complaining that someone is pressing the radio button but not talking. Bit of an odd time for prank calls, no?

16:43 Ocon clearly thinks he can improve - he's gone out again on another set of the soft tyres.

16:39 Bottas has now come out again on mediums - with 20 minutes to go, that suggests we might have seen the best of the times we're likely to get on soft rubber, unless one of the big guns decides to do another quali sim run.

16:37 "There is quite a bit of vibration on these tyres," complains Perez over the radio. He's still pounding around on softs and has just posted an improvement - a 1m17.824s - but remains fifth behind Ocon.

16:36 A look at the fastest sector times provides some interesting reading. Bottas is quickest through sectors one and two, but Hamilton is on top in the final sector that includes the fiddly hairpins that end the lap. The ideal laptime adding their best sectors together is a 1m16.786s, which suggests there are two tenths for Bottas to find on his current best.

16:35 We were getting excited a few minutes ago about Ferrari trialling the softs, but neither car is currently in the top 10. Leclerc is P11, just ahead of Sainz - both Alpines meanwhile are in the top seven, while both Astons are inside the top 10, sandwiching Norris in P9.

16:33 Perez's first soft time is only good enough for fifth, still behind Ocon in the Alpine. Shades of 2019 repeating themselves for Red Bull here?

16:33 Verstappen has posted his first time on softs, but it's not enough to trouble the Mercedes - a 1m17.310s leaves him third for now.

16:31 Norris goes P7 with his first effort on the softs, four tenths ahead of Ricciardo who is down in P12. It could be another frenetic battle to reach Q3 if this is anything to go by.

16:30 Ocon meanwhile has shot into third on a 1m17.759s. Remember the F3 stat from earlier? He likes this place does the Alpine driver, and even shone in a Formula Renault 3.5 cameo back in 2014. You can read about it here: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/have-a-go-hero-when-ocon-made-a-renault-world-series-cameo-4982901/4982901/

16:28 Bottas retakes the top spot with a 1m17.012s, a fraction ahead of Hamilton on 1m17.039s. Blink of an eye.

16:26 Gasly answers our question from a moment ago in emphatic fashion by going fastest, a 1m18.133s from the Frenchman. But his moment of glory is likely to be brief, as both Mercedes drivers are now also on softs and setting purple sectors...

16:25

16:24

16:24 Gasly, Leclerc and Sainz have now all taken on softs, so they will be the men to watch for in the next few minutes. Can they bump their way on a par with the soft-shod Aston times?

16:23 Stroll also shows well on the soft and moves into fourth, just behind Bottas, on a 1m18.320s. In its former guise as Racing Point, Aston showed well last year remember, with Stroll and Perez annexing the second row of the grid. Could a repeat be on the cards?

16:21 But that pales with comparison next to Vettel's first effort on the softs, as he leaps up the order like Jonathan Edwards (apologies for the dated, forced Olympic reference there) with a 1m18.228s.

16:20 Russell uses the soft tyres to good effect to pop up into P9 with Williams. Could we see another Q3 appearance this weekend from the Mercedes junior? It's a 1m19.357s for the Brit.

16:19 "Still struggling with the same things," replied Verstappen when asked over the radio for his thoughts on the car balance. Clearly still some work to do at Red Bull.

16:18 Verstappen improves again, this time to a 1m18.353s, but stays third on the medium tyre. Soft tyres now starting to get a run out for the first time, with Vettel and the two Williams drivers giving the red-walled tyres a go.

16:16 Gasly meanwhile has bounced back ahead of Ocon into fifth place, the AlphaTauri sneaking under the 1m19s bracket for the first time in the session. Perez has also improved to a 1m18.687s, but remains P4 for now.

Live updates from Friday practice for the Hungarian GP at the Hungaroring.

Summary

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