Sainz sets the pace in Hungary with Verstappen and Leclerc on his tail
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Carlos Sainz topped the timesheets in FP1. Closest competitors Max Verstappen and teammate Charles Leclerc were more than two-tenths behind the Spaniard, who is yet to secure a 2025 seat. The Ferraris will be looking to hold their early pace after a difficult triple-header.
As it happened:
The Hungaroring looked very different after flooding at the circuit earlier this week. It was a very hot Friday afternoon in Budapest, and Sergio Perez made his way out onto the circuit as the green flag waved. The RB20 of the Mexican was donning aero rakes in order to measure the flow structure. Oscar Piastri suffered from a technical problem early on in the session, as the Australian spent the first part of practice in the pits. Just a few minutes later, Piastri emerged from the pitlane, running the rest of the session without an issue. The Australian was not the only driver who had some teething problems. Kevin Magnussen, who will not be continuing with Haas next year, complained of 'really bad brakes'. He was joined in practice by Oliver Bearman, who took Nico Hulkenber's sport in the first session of the weekend. Zhou Guanyu told his team he had lots of 'stuff coming off' his sidepod, but had a positive session. The Chinese driver finished in fifth.
Max Verstappen was the early pace-setter. The Dutchman, who has an updated car this weekend, had bolted on the soft tyre and topped the timesheets in the early stages. George Russell then had a close call with Yuki Tsunoda after turn one. "He wasn't looking in his mirrors," said the two-time Grand Prix winner. At around the halfway point of the session, a virtual safety car was deployed. Alex Albon had shredded off a piece of his car after taking too much curb in sector two. Both Aston Martin's appeared to struggle, too. 'Good luck', said Alonso when he was asked by his team to give some advice to his teammate about balance. Stroll described his Aston Martin as 'shocking' beforehand.
Carlos Sainz, the man supposedly holding up the driver market, knocked Max Verstappen off the top spot and held first position in the latter stages of the session. Sainz set a 1.18.713 on the soft tyres. Max Verstappen finished the session in second, and Sainz's teammate Leclerc finished in third.