Carlos Sainz topped the timesheet in the opening practice session for the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix, beating Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by a quarter of a second. Sainz’s Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc finished third, almost three tenths behind his team-mate.
At the start of the hour-long session, run in sweltering hot conditions, it was Mercedes’ George Russell, on C3 Medium compound tyres, who set the early pace with a lap of 1:20.980. Verstappen then went almost three tenths quicker to take top spot, though the championship leader ran counter to the bulk of the field by bolting on the C5 Softs early in the session.
That put him fractionally ahead of Lando Norris who had moved to P2 on a 1:20.750s, with the McLaren driver on Mediums. Russell then improved to 1:20.083, putting six tenths between him and Verstappen.
The Dutch driver, still on Softs, had more pace in hand, however, and he reclaimed top spot with a lap of 1:19.831 before retreating to the Red Bull garage.
Oscar Piastri, who had missed the opening 10 minutes of the session as McLaren fixed a possible hydraulic issue on his car, slotted into second 0.007s behind Verstappen but Alex Albon then came out of nowhere to claim P1 with a time of 1:19.794 on Soft tyres as the clock ticked towards the halfway mark.
Mercedes’ drivers then appeared on Softs for the first time and Russell jumped back to first place with a time of 1:19.137 as Lewis Hamilton took P2, 0.150s off his team-mate.
Leclerc briefly took top spot but he was usurped by team-mate Carlos Sainz, who posted a lap of 1:18.713 to seal P1.
Having tweaked his set-up, Verstappen then emerged once more and posted a strong lap of 1:18.989 on used Soft tyres to end the session 0.276 behind Sainz, and 0.022s ahead of Leclerc who settled for third.
Russell finished in fourth place, while Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu impressed in P5 in heavily upgraded C44. Norris and Piastri were sixth and seventh fastest, while RB’s Yuki Tsunoda took P8 ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. The top 10 order was rounded out by Hamilton.
2024 FIA Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:18.713 27 200.368
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:18.989 0.276 20 199.668
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:19.011 0.298 29 199.612
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:19.137 0.424 28 199.294
5 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:19.180 0.467 24 199.186
6 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:19.211 0.498 26 199.108
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:19.249 0.536 26 199.013
8 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:19.260 0.547 26 198.985
9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:19.265 0.552 25 198.973
10 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:19.287 0.574 29 198.917
11 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:19.440 0.727 22 198.534
12 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:19.578 0.865 27 198.190
13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:19.686 0.973 24 197.921
14 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:19.794 1.081 22 197.653
15 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:19.804 1.091 28 197.629
16 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1:19.885 1.172 26 197.428
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:19.976 1.263 26 197.204
18 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:20.023 1.310 26 197.088
19 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:20.295 1.582 27 196.420
20 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:20.371 1.658 27 196.234