#F1 #HungarianGP FP2: @LandoNorris edges @Max33Verstappen by 0.243s.

Norris Hungarian GP FP2 – McLaren’s Lando Norris topped the afternoon red flag-affected FP2 session at the Hungarian GP ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz completed the top three.

Norris posted the session-topping benchmark of a 1:17.788 on the C5 red side-walled softer compound and was 0.243 seconds faster than Verstappen as Sainz was a further 0.397 seconds off his former team-mate in third.

After the earlier FP1 session’s soaring track temperatures, which came close to 60 degrees, the temperatures at the Hungaroring started to drop below 50 degrees for the beginning of Free Practice 2, ensuring the tyres had a marginally easier time for it.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez went to the top of the pile with a 1:18.568 on the mediums, which remained as the best benchmark for the opening 15 minutes of proceedings.

At this point, the session was interrupted by Charles Leclerc’s shunt on the exit of turn four; the Monegasque driver took too much kerb coming out of the left-hand uphill corner, sending his SF-24 racer into a heavy spin and hitting the opposite wall.

This produced a long stoppage to fix the dented Armco barrier from Leclerc’s SF-24, with the repairs taking 15 minutes to complete before the session could resume.

Once FP2 went back to green; the qualifying simulations on the softer tyre began; Mercedes’ George Russell set a 1:18.294 to dispose Perez’s earlier effort, beginning the flurry of improvements and shuffling the order.

Norris then put half a second over his fellow English-compatriot, hitting the top of the pile with a 1:17.788, a solid time for the McLaren drivers’ rivals to chase.

FP1 session-topper Sainz closed in on Norris’s advantage over second after posting a 1:18.185, which brought the gap to under 0.4 seconds, whilst Verstappen improved further on a 1:18.031. However, Norris’s effort of a 1:17.788 could not be beaten.

Perez posted a good follow-up effort to take fourth in the classification behind fourth-placed Sainz, albeit only 0.3 seconds faster than his medium rubber effort – a much smaller gain compared to the tyre data deltas for the others.

Russell’s initial soft-tyre hot-lap was fifth best overall, whilst MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen recovered from a tough FP1 session to take sixth place on the time-sheets, only 0.021 seconds adrift of Russell’s time.

The other Mercedes F1 W15 entry of Sir Lewis Hamilton and RB’s Daniel Ricciardo took seventh and eighth respectively as Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso rounded out the top ten.

Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas ended the session outside the top ten in 11^th place and ahead of Williams’ Logan Sargeant who was 12^th, as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon were 13^th and 14^th respectively.

MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg finished FP2 in 15^th and in-front of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who took 16^th and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who came 17^th in the classification.

The aforementioned Leclerc ended the day 18^th as RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu brought up the rear.

Zhou nearly had a carbon-copy of Leclerc’s crash, but just missed the wall – and Perez, who was travelling slowly ahead of the Chinese driver on a cool-down tour.

You can see the full Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix 2024 Free Practice 2 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2024/races/1241/hungary/practice-2.html

#F1 #HungarianGP FP1: @Carlossainz55 quickest ahead of @Max33Verstappen, @CharlesLeclerc.

#F1 #HungarianGP 2024 Preview. #Formula1 #HungarianGrandPrix

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