Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc set the quickest time during second practice at Formula 1’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
The session took place in warm and dry conditions after the earlier practice on Friday afternoon was disrupted by heavy rain.
The rate of the track evolution, in conjunction with teams carrying out different programmes after the rain-hit opening session, led to a slightly mixed-up order come the end of the hour, with little in the way of off-track excursions or incidents.
Teams also have a slightly tweaked tyre allocation this weekend due to the trial of Pirelli’s Alternative Tyre Allocation, whereby Hards must be run in Q1, Mediums in Q2, and Softs in Q3.
Leclerc set a time of 1:17.686s at the Hungaroring to finish just 0.015s in front of McLaren driver Lando Norris.
Esteban Ocon (FRA) Alpine F1 Team A523.
Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 12, Hungarian Grand Prix, Friday 21st July 2023. Budapest, Hungary.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was third, two-tenths down on pacesetter Leclerc, while Yuki Tsunoda was fourth overall for AlphaTauri.
His team-mate, Daniel Ricciardo, finished in 14th place on his Formula 1 return, four-tenths of a second behind the Japanese youngster.
Esteban Ocon, who claimed his sole win to date at the 2021 race, was fifth-best, ahead of Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas.
Red Bull atypically had neither of its drivers inside the top 10 at the conclusion of running.
Max Verstappen wound up 11th while Sergio Perez, who crashed in the opening practice session, was a lowly 18th.
Mercedes also shirked headline-grabbing times as both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell posted their best laps on the Medium tyres.
Hamilton, an eight-time winner at the Hungaroring, was 15th while Russell finished at the rear of the 20-car field.
Saturday’s final practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix is scheduled for 12:30 local time
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