Practice report

F1 Hungarian GP: Charles Leclerc tops FP1 as Lance Stroll brings out red flags

Leclerc ends FP1 on top at Formula 1's Hungarian Grand Prix, while Aston Martin's B-spec AMR26 suffers a reliability failure

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc topped opening practice at Formula 1's Hungarian Grand Prix, his early benchmark proving over four tenths quicker than Red Bull's Max Verstappen and team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Leclerc headed Hamilton in the opening stages of practice as Ferrari adorned its 'Macarena' wing with an eye-catching three-piece winglet on top of its actuator, an optional piece for the Hungaroring's high downforce demands.

Mercedes driver George Russell was the first to switch to Pirelli's soft tyres, going just two tenths quicker than Leclerc, which was swiftly bested by Verstappen. Russell was one of several drivers to lock up the fronts in Turn 1, which has been completely resurfaced for this year and was particularly bereft of surface level grip.

Ferrari and Mercedes were two of several teams bringing Hungary-specific updates, largely through additional downforce options for the rear wing. But for McLaren, Budapest was marked on its development calendar for a wholesale floor revision that the Woking team hopes will bring its MCL40 closer to Mercedes and Ferrari in cornering performance.

McLaren handed Oscar Piastri's car to its reserve driver, reigning F2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli, who trialled McLaren's own interpretation of Ferrari's upside-down rear wing, which his race engineer reported was "working well".

Aston Martin went much further still and introduced what amounted to an entirely new car, including a lighter chassis, all-new aero surfaces and a new rear suspension layout. But the team's first test session with its AMR26 B-spec suffered a major setback after 36 minutes when Lance Stroll's rear suspension appeared to buckle on the exit of Turn 2, causing the Canadian to suffer a 360-degree spin, bringing out a red flag as he parked his car.

Lance Stroll came to a halt on track

Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images

After the nine-minute interruption, Leclerc attempted to improve his own 1m19.075s benchmark, which the Monagasque driver had established right before the red flag. But Leclerc appeared to suffer a power unit or gearbox failure in the final sector, coasting into the pits with an ailing car.

Unusually, Leclerc's benchmark remained untouched during the final 14-minute stretch of green-flag running. Verstappen, who complained his Red Bull RB22 felt like it was driving with a handbrake on, was second, his 1.m19.559s almost five tenths down on Leclerc.

Hamilton was third ahead of the second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar, who shipped nine tenths on Leclerc. Russell took fifth ahead of Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto.

Fornaroli wasn't the only young driver to fulfil one of the teams' four compulsory FP1 rookie sessions. Frederik Vesti took over championship leader Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes to go seventh, followed by Nico Hulkenberg and Racing Bulls duo Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson who all combined to keep world champion Norris out of the top 10.

Behind 16th-placed Fornaroli, Toyota protege Ryo Hirakawa was 17th in the Haas. Paul Aron took 19th in Franco Colapinto's Alpine, while Former IndyCar ace and Cadillac test driver Colton Herta got his latest taste of F1 machinery and took 20th.

Colton Herta was one of five rookies in action

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

Notwithstanding Stroll's suspension failure, Aston Martin's B-spec made a cautiously promising start in the hands of Fernando Alonso, who was entrenched in F1's midfield with the 13th-fastest time, his 1m21.550s two and a half seconds behind the benchmark.

Following the session, Carlos Sainz was summoned to the stewards' office for impeding Verstappen and allegedly driving erratically, much to the Dutchman's chagrin.

Photos from Hungarian GP - Friday

F1 Hungarian GP: FP1 results

All Stats

Cla	Driver	#	Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	Ferrari	Ferrari	19	1'19.075		S	199.451
2	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	3	Red Bull	Red Bull	25	+0.484 1'19.559	0.484	S	198.237
3	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44	Ferrari	Ferrari	23	+0.543 1'19.618	0.059	S	198.090
4	I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing	6	Red Bull	Red Bull	25	+0.922 1'19.997	0.379	S	197.152
5	G. Russell Mercedes	63	Mercedes	Mercedes	21	+0.991 1'20.066	0.069	S	196.982
6	G. Bortoleto Audi	5	Audi	Audi	30	+1.285 1'20.360	0.294	S	196.261
7	F. Vesti Mercedes	72	Mercedes	Mercedes	24	+1.392 1'20.467	0.107	S	196.000
8	N. Hulkenberg Audi	27	Audi	Audi	29	+1.548 1'20.623	0.156	S	195.621
9	A. Lindblad Racing Bulls	41	RB	Red Bull	28	+1.685 1'20.760	0.137	S	195.289
10	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30	RB	Red Bull	28	+1.791 1'20.866	0.106	S	195.033
11	L. Norris McLaren	1	McLaren	Mercedes	26	+1.949 1'21.024	0.158	S	194.653
12	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31	Haas	Ferrari	24	+1.976 1'21.051	0.027	S	194.588
13	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14	Aston Martin	Honda	20	+2.475 1'21.550	0.499	S	193.397
14	P. Gasly Alpine	10	Alpine	Mercedes	29	+2.629 1'21.704	0.154	S	193.033
15	A. Albon Williams	23	Williams	Mercedes	28	+2.744 1'21.819	0.115	S	192.762
16	L. Fornaroli McLaren	67	McLaren	Mercedes	29	+2.815 1'21.890	0.071	M	192.594
17	R. Hirakawa Haas F1 Team	50	Haas	Ferrari	25	+2.926 1'22.001	0.111	S	192.334
18	S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team	11	Cadillac	Ferrari	22	+3.014 1'22.089	0.088	S	192.128
19	P. Aron Audi	61	Audi	Audi	28	+3.093 1'22.168	0.079	S	191.943
20	C. Herta Cadillac F1 Team	25	Cadillac	Ferrari	28	+4.043 1'23.118	0.950	S	189.749
21	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18	Aston Martin	Honda	11	+4.396 1'23.471	0.353	H	188.947
22	C. Sainz Williams	55	Williams	Mercedes	23	+4.659 1'23.734	0.263	M	188.353
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