Russell tops washed out FP1 in Hungary – Perez crashes

George Russell topped a rain-disrupted first practice in Hungary, the Mercedes driver edging McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Aston Martin's Lance Stroll in a session that saw limited running.

It took the better part of 50 minutes for a proper lap time to be put on the board due to the wet conditions, but it only took four corners for Sergio Perez to crash and heavily damage his Red Bull.

Only 13 drivers completed a full timed lap, with championship leader Max Verstappen among those who sat out most of the session.

• Hungarian Grand Prix Free Practice 1 - Results

At the outset of the opening session at the Hungaroring, everyone had one eye on the menacing skies and the other on F1 returnee Daniel Ricciardo.

Conditions were dry when the circuit went green but the forecast called for rain either during the session or later in the day, which encouraged everyone to get going straight away.

It was a nightmare start however for Perez, who on his first flyer put two wheels on the grass going into Turn 5 which sent the Red Bull charger straight into the wall.

"I can't believe this", quipped Perez on the radio. In addition to ruining his crews' lunchbreak, Perez will have done his current goodwill little good at a moment in time where he desperately needs to bounce back from his dismal string of recent performances.

While the red flag remained deployed, drops of rain appeared in the pitlane. The session resumed with the field of cars heading back out on slicks but the running was short lived, with everyone heading back to the dry confines of their garages to ponder their next move.

The consensus was that there was little to learn by running in the wet, which led to a prolonged lull in the track action.

2021 Hungarian GP winner Esteban Ocon eventually gave it a tentative shot on Inters, the Alpine driver followed by Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and Williams' Alex Albon, but the trio's runs were limited to just a single lap.

Others followed suit, but quickly sought dry ground, which meant that with 20 minutes left on the clock, there was still no time on the board!

Bottas corrected that shortfall by finally completing a full lap, but the Finn was overhauled by the Williams duo of Sargeant and Albon.

Meanwhile, Sainz slipped off the track at Turn 3 and slightly damaged his SF-23. Unable to gain traction on the wet grass, the Spaniard was forced to rely on the marshals to get him going again.

More cars joined the action in the final ten minutes of the session, leading to fast and furious rotations at the top of the timing screens.

Nico Hulkenberg briefly went top before Leclerc and Alonso traded fastest wet laps. It looked like the Spaniard would have the last word but Piastri and then Russell went top to conclude a mainly irrelevant opening session.

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