Hungarian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1: Carlos Sainz takes first place

During the first Free Practice session, only Oliver Bearman was behind the wheel without being a regular driver. He was taking the place of Nico Hülkenberg. A strategic decision for the team as the young driver will join the team in 2025.

This session, Red Bull made significant modifications to Max Verstappen’s car, leaving his teammate Sergio Pérez with the older version of the vehicle. The results speak for themselves, as Verstappen dominated the first part of the session. Sergio Pérez, on the other hand, quickly returned to the pits after only a few laps.

During this first session, all types of tires were used. At Ferrari, probes were installed on the cars, as well as on Sergio Perez’s car, to evaluate the airflow. After the modifications made during the Barcelona Grand Prix, which had significantly affected the cars’ performance, the cars used the old floor which seems to have limited the bounce on the car.

Several problems during the session

On the Haas side, Kevin Magnussen encountered brake issues on his car, complicating his track sessions. Similarly, Zhou Guanyu, at Kick Sauber, lost parts, causing a hole in the sidepod and forcing him to change his engine cover. In total, only one safety car was deployed during this session, after Alexander Albon went off track and damaged his car on the kerbs. The Thai driver had nonetheless managed to set a good time with 31 minutes remaining.

Lando Norris lost control of his car several times, the track being particularly slippery due to the intense heat of this weekend, with an outside temperature of 31°C and 58°C on the track. He was not the only one, as Charles Leclerc also encountered gravel several times, especially at the exit of turn 12 following the exits of many other drivers. On his side, Oscar Piastri took time to rejoin the track, only entering after 13 minutes with medium tires. He still managed to climb to sixth place in the rankings.

Unexpected performances in the second half

Ferraris struggled to achieve good lap times at the beginning of the session, partly because they were using hard tires, but they were able to make up for it in the second part as they dominated the top of the standings until the end, whereas Mercedes also showed good performance. George Russell was in the first place after 25 minutes on track, despite an incident with Yuki Tsunoda who blocked him at the exit of turn one, forcing Russell to slow down to avoid contact. A similar incident occurred later in the session when Esteban Ocon hindered Russell. Alpines remained at the bottom of the standings throughout the event, unable to reach the top 10.

The car that seems to have underperformed this session is the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso. Stroll expressed his dissatisfaction with the performance of his car while Alonso hinted that the car was undrivable, especially due to oversteering.

The session ended on a positive note for Guanyu Zhou, who finished in 5th place, while Carlos Sainz secured the first place, demonstrating Ferrari’s competitiveness in this first Free Practice session.

Results of Free Practice 1 of the Hungarian Grand Prix 2024: