#F1 #HungarianGP #FP1: @CharlesLeclerc quickest ahead of @Max33Verstappen, @LewisHamilton.

Leclerc Hungarian GP FP1 – Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc ended FP1 on top of the time-sheets at the Hungarian GP ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and his team-mate Sir Lewis Hamilton who completed the top ten.

Leclerc ended his session early after he reported something broke on his car, but the Monegasque driver posted the time-topping benchmark of a 1:19.075 on the C5 red side-walled softer compounds and was 0.484 seconds clear of Verstappen whilst team-mate Hamilton was a further 0.543 seconds off in third.

In FP1, five teams fielded reserve drivers who have not raced in more than two Grands Prix, as required by the Formula One regulations:

• Leonardo Fornaroli for McLaren in place of Oscar Piastri.
• Colton Herta for Cadillac in place of Valtteri Bottas.
• Ryo Hirakawa for Haas in place of Oliver Bearman.
• Paul Aron for Alpine in place of Franco Colapinto.
• Frederik Vesti for Mercedes in place of championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Hirakawa lead the pack out on the C4 yellow-branded medium compounds.

The Japanese driver registered the benchmark of a 1:34.406, which was beaten by team-mate Esteban Ocon’s 1:34.153, as Cadillac’s Sergio Perez went even quicker on a 1:26.497.

Alpine’s Paul Aron slotted into P1 only briefly with a 1:24.241 as Leclerc took top spot posting a 1:22.705 as RB’s Liam Lawson jumped to second to be 0.801 down on the Monegasque driver.

Russell was next and the Mercedes driver moved to the head of the pile with two purple final sector to go 0.649 seconds clear of Leclerc at the sixth minute mark of proceedings.

Replays showed Williams’ Sainz impeding Verstappen whilst on his hot-lap.

Norris put his McLaren second with a 1:22.404 as Leclerc returned to the top of the time-sheets setting a 1:20.884 to be 1.172 seconds clear of the reigning world champion.

Hamilton with two purple sectors suffered a snap out of the final sector and ended up fourth with a 1:22.482 but was beaten by Fornaroli who jumped to third with a 1:22.084 and RB’s Arvid Lindblad who moved to sixth setting a 1:22.448.

Verstappen got his hot-lap in to take P1 with a purple middle sector to post a 1:20.788 to be 0.096 seconds ahead of Leclerc.

Russell with three personal bests slotted into third setting a 1:21.890 as Fornaroli pipped his team-mate Norris into fourth with a 1:21.890 only briefly as Hamilton with two personal bests set a 1:21.065 to go third best.

Norris pipped Fornaroli to take fourth with a 1:21.787 whilst Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg went seventh overall with a 1:24.442.

Leclerc with the best middle sector was up into P1 with a 1:20.287 to go 0.501 seconds quicker as Lindblad ended up sixth and 1.538 seconds adrift and Lawson eighth and 1.722 off the Ferrari driver.

Verstappen despite the best opening sector was unable to improve and remained in second place at the 15^th minute mark of the session.

Hamilton was next and the seven-time world champion was up into second place 0.326 seconds behind team-mate Leclerc posting a 1:20.613.

Hulkenberg with three personal bests jumped to fifth setting a 1:21.504 as Russell improved on his time but remained in fourth place on a 1:20.843.

Lindblad was next with two personal bests moving into sixth on a 1:21.619 as his team-mate Lawson was up to fifth and 1.170 seconds off Leclerc’s best time at the 19^th-minute-mark of proceedings.

The majority of the field were back in the pits to adjust their setups before heading out again as Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar was up to 13^th on a 1:22.783 whilst Hulkenberg remained in fifth place despite two personal bests.

Ocon with two personal bests was up into 11^th on a 1:22.248 as Hirakawa was the first to emerge on the C5 red side-walled softer tyres.

Hadjar with three personal bests went seventh in the order posting a 1:21.616 as Bortoleto put his Audi R26 entry fifth on a 1:21.425.

Hirakawa’s first lap on the softs was a 1:23.540 and was down in 19^th.

Russell on the C5’s with a personal best sector one and two purples went fastest with a 1:20.066 as Norris on a flyer abandoned it and returned to the pits.

Verstappen was next and the Red Bull driver with two purple sectors went even faster on a 1:19.559 to be 0.507 seconds clear of Russell as replays showed Norris ran wide out of turn 11.

Lindblad on the softer compounds with three personal bests took fifth on a 1:20.760 as team-mate Lawson slots behind on a 1:20.866.

Hulkenberg with two personal bests splits the duo in sixth setting a 1:20.789.

Norris with a personal best middle sector could only improve to eighth on a 1:21.024 on the softer rubber as Leclerc with three purples jumped to P1 to go 0.484 seconds quicker with a 1:19.075 effort.

Hadjar on three personal bests was up into third 0.922 seconds off Leclerc with a 1:19.997 as replays showed Russell suffer a massive front-right lock-up into turn one flat-spotting his tyre.

Hamilton was next on his flying tour on the C5’s and the Briton took third overall on a 1:19.618 as Bortoleto was up to sixth with a 1:20.360 as the red flags were brought out with 22 minutes and 56 remaining after Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll suffered a potential rear suspension failure out of the exit of turn two.

Replays showed the Canadian lost the rear out of turn two, which was not a driver error. Something on the AMR26 seemed to let go whether it was the rear wishbone of the suspension or a cross-threaded rear right-tyre failure, sending Stroll spinning and he done well to keep clear of the barriers.

After Stroll’s AMR26 entry was cleared and with less than 17 minutes remaining, Ocon lead the pack out on the C5’s.

Gasly with three personal bests on the softs moved to 12^th-best on a 1:21.704 as Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso with the upgraded AMR26 snatched the spot from the Frenchman setting a 1:21.550 as Ocon does the same with a 1:21.051.

Vesti was up to seventh on the C4 medium rubber, posting a 1:20.467 effort whilst Fornaroli remained in 16^th despite a personal best middle sector as Williams’ Carlos Sainz suffered a massive front-right lock-up into turn one.

With seven minutes and 43 minutes remaining Leclerc reported something broke on his SF-26 racer.

The session ended with drivers circulating on the softs and medium compounds doing long race data gathering runs.

Leclerc finished opening practice quickest and in-front of Verstappen and Hamilton who rounded out the top three.

Hadjar was fourth best and ahead of Russell who took fifth and Bortoleto who ended FP1 sixth.

Vesti was the quickest rookie taking seventh in the classification as Hulkenberg took eighth.

Both RB’s of Lindblad and Lawson completed the top ten.

You can see the full Formula 1 AWS Hungarian Grand Prix 2026 Free Practice 1 Results Classification at the link: FORMULA 1 AWS HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX 2026 – PRACTICE 1

2026 F1 World Championship Standings

#F1 AWS #HungarianGP 2026 Preview.