F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Hungarian GP: Hamilton keeps Ferrari on top in second practice

Lewis Hamilton completed a Ferrari one-two in Friday's second practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix, topping a challenging session in which changing conditions and a slippery Hungaroring repeatedly caught drivers out.

The seven-time world champion posted a best lap of 1m18.729s to finish just 0.148s clear of team-mate Charles Leclerc, with McLaren's Lando Norris and Red Bull's Max Verstappen completing the top four.

Cooler temperatures, stronger winds and patches of new asphalt transformed the Hungaroring compared to the opening session, leaving drivers struggling for grip and balance throughout the hour.

 

Ferrari adapted quickest to the changing conditions, with Hamilton setting the early pace on medium tyres ahead of Leclerc. Verstappen was over seven tenths adrift while several leading contenders battled unpredictable handling.

George Russell described the rear of his Mercedes as "dreadful", Kimi Antonelli complained of rear locking, Leclerc locked up into Turn 1 and Pierre Gasly was convinced something was amiss with his Alpine as teams searched for workable setups.

Hamilton improved his benchmark before Norris briefly looked set to take over at the top, only to abandon his lap after a dramatic slide at the final corner that he narrowly saved from becoming a spin.

Red flag interrupts qualifying simulations

The first runs on Pirelli's soft tyres initially failed to deliver the expected gains.

Norris nevertheless jumped to the top with a 1m19.228s, around two tenths quicker than Verstappen, although both drivers struggled to extract a significant advantage over Hamilton's earlier medium-tyre effort.

Mercedes endured a frustrating afternoon. Russell remained several tenths off the pace, while Antonelli's qualifying simulation was interrupted by a red flag after 32 minutes.

The stoppage came when Alpine's Franco Colapinto lost the rear entering the final corner and struck the barriers, bringing the session to a halt.

When running resumed, Antonelli's troubles continued as another qualifying attempt ended with a sizeable slide through the Turn 6 chicane, forcing the championship leader to abandon the lap.

Hamilton has final say

Ferrari finally unlocked the full potential of the soft tyres during the closing stages.

Leclerc briefly moved to the top with a 1m18.877s before Hamilton responded moments later with the session's quickest lap. Leclerc was unable to mount one final challenge after encountering Russell during his last flying lap.

Norris held on to third ahead of Verstappen, Russell and Isack Hadjar, while Racing Bulls continued its encouraging form with Liam Lawson in seventh. Oscar Piastri finished eighth, followed by Nico Hülkenberg and Arvid Lindblad.

Antonelli ended a frustrating session 13th after failing to complete a representative qualifying simulation.

Aston Martin's heavily revised B-spec AMR26 remained firmly in evaluation mode, with Fernando Alonso 19th and nearly three seconds off Hamilton's benchmark. Lance Stroll took no part after the rear suspension failure that ended his FP1 prematurely.

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Michael Delaney

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