F1 News
Hungarian Grand Prix – What does Friday tell us about the rest of the weekend?
- Bevan Youl
Friday at the Hungarian Grand Prix has given two quite different practice sessions which saw Lewis Hamilton top the times yet again in the morning and then label the afternoon session “irrelevent” as Red Bull claimed a one-two. But what does it tell us about the rest of the weekend?
The morning practice session proved most worthy to Hamilton as he set his fastest time before rain came down. But Valtteri Bottas could only run in FP2 as his Mercedes had to have an engine change, leaving him running in the wet. Mercedes’ pace looks good but dry weather isn’t 100% certain for tomorrow, as well as Red Bull looking a threat.
Speaking of Red Bull, their car certainly looks to be performing well around the Hungaroring. Max Verstappen wasn’t too far off Hamilton in FP1 and Pierre Gasly put his foot down and topped the times of FP2. Should they carry this momentum they could be a real threat for the front row tomorrow.
Ferrari hiding their true pace? Something Gasly feels so. Sebastian Vettel was 0.001s off Verstappen in FP1 but both Ferrari’s didn’t seem to push much in FP2. Whether we’ll see this pace from them tomorrow who knows? But we do know their straight-line speed is very quick.
Renault to bounce back from double DNF? After a loss at the chance for a podium from Nico Hulkenberg in Germany he was P7 in FP1 while Daniel Ricciardo was best of the rest in FP2. Looks positive for the French team in the midfield battle.
McLaren had their issues with both cars across different sessions but Lando Norris’ pace looked ok for the team as he finished P8 behind Hulkenberg while Haas’ Kevin Magnussen a decent P5 in FP1.
After Lance Stroll's P4 in Germany, SportPesa Racing Point didn't seem to be on the pace as much. They'll be looking to change that in practice and qualifying tomorrow.
The midfield battle really could be one to watch tomorrow and Sunday with not much between McLaren, Renault, Haas, Alfa Romeo and Toro Rosso. Exciting stuff!
And then Williams. Robert Kubica will be cheered on by the Polish fans making the trip and George Russell most likely producing another consistent display.
Let us know in the comments what you think will happen over the weekend!