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

Sainz Hungarian GP FP1 – Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fastest in FP1 at the Hungarian GP, pipping Max Verstappen in the closing stages as Charles Leclerc rounded out the top three in the other F1-75 entry.

The session began with most drivers quickly joining the action early on, including reigning world champion Max Verstappen, who normally emerges later than most.

Verstappen hit a 1:21.635 just after the five minute mark of the hour-long practice session at a hot Hungaroring, in-front of Sainz and McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo.

The times started tumbling when the other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc went to P1 on a 1:20.225 on the C4 red side-walled softer compounds, which was 0.018 seconds quicker than Verstappen’s new personal best effort on that same rubber.

Sainz momentarily jumped his team-mate to the top after the 15 minute mark, before Leclerc reacted with a 1:19.863 and Verstappen’s next tour was a very narrow 0.009 adrift of the Monegasque’s effort. A better lap of a 1:19.426 put more clearance between leader Leclerc and his championship rival.

The Red Bull’s and Ferrari’s were the only two outfits running Pirelli’s C4 softer tyres whilst others were using mediums or hards during the opening proceedings, as Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in fourth put a bit of a gap over the midfield runners led by McLaren’s Ricciardo.

This changed after the usual mid-session lull when more teams started putting on the soft compounds.

Mercedes’ George Russell used the C4’s to jump to second place just 0.180 seconds off Leclerc, whilst team-mate Sir Lewis Hamilton moved to fifth to put the top five within three-tenths of each other.

With 20 minutes left on the clock, Sainz briefly took P1 with a 1:19.262, with a string of fast laps following. Verstappen came through next on a 1:18.800 tour, charging with purple sectors one and three.

Leclerc was unable to match the Dutchman and was one-and-a-half tenths behind, but Sainz did. The Spaniard who was fastest in the middle sector, took a tenth out of Verstappen’s effort to finish P1 with a 1:18.750.

Behind the top three McLaren’s Lando Norris followed in fourth, setting an impressive lap of a 1:19.299 despite emerging in the session late.

The other Red Bull RB18 entry of Perez, could not find a clean lap and remained sixth in-between Mercedes pairing Russell and Hamilton.

The second Mercedes-powered McLaren MCL36 machine of Ricciardo was eighth on the time-sheets, whilst Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso completed the top ten.

Fitted with Aston Martin’s new rear wing, Sebastian Vettel took 11th in the order near the end, ahead of team-mate Lance Stroll.

Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda placed 13th and 14th respectively.

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN’s Zhou Guanyu ended opening practice 15th and in-front of Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon.

Haas F1 Team pairing Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher followed in 17th and 18th as the Kannapolis-Banbury squad continued to discover the VF-22’s new upgrade package.

Reserve Robert Kubica, who took the place of Valtteri Bottas in FP1 for Alfa Romeo was 19th ahead of Nicholas Latifi in the other FW44 Williams who brought up the rear.

The hour-long session lapsed without any notable incidents, although Schumacher and Tsunoda were amongst drivers who face a couple of scary off-track moments and Stroll encountered a heavy floor strike over the Hungaroring’s high kerbs.

You can see the full Formula 1 Aramco Magyar Nagydij 2022 Free Practice 1 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2022/races/1117/hungary/practice-1.html

Formula 1 @Aramco Hungarian Grand Prix 2022 Preview. #F1 #Formula1 @F1