Hungary – Free Practice 1 – Hamilton in the lead, Perez rolls over

It’s only morning in Hungary, but it’s already hot: 27°C in the air and 40°C on the track, as the twenty-two drivers start their weekend, their spirits obviously overshadowed by the recent passing of Jules Bianchi. Each driver sports a message for the French driver on their helmet.

From the first quarter of an hour, the mano a mano between the two Mercedes drivers begins. It is Lewis Hamilton who immediately proves the fastest with 1’26″286, nine-tenths quicker than Nico Rosberg. Kimi Räikkönen, who absolutely must make an impression if he wants to stay with Ferrari, positions himself between the two Silver Arrows before being overtaken by Nico Rosberg. Daniel Ricciardo then surpasses the Finn. It is known that on this Hungarian circuit, engine power matters less, which should benefit the Renault power units.

The second half-hour is not marked by much activity on the track. Like Lotus, particularly inactive (neither Maldonado nor Palmer – who replaces Grosjean, have yet set a time), teams are waiting for the track conditions to improve. We will learn later in the day that the Enstone team has not settled its debts with Pirelli, and the Italian manufacturer has decided in retaliation not to deliver the correct tires on time. Far from these concerns, Sebastian Vettel finally enters the top 10, while Nico Rosberg sets the second-fastest time with a 1’25″719. Hamilton had previously set a 1’25″291.

The last half hour of the session opens with what will be the striking image of this Friday: Sergio Perez’s barrel roll. The Mexican’s suspension breaks on a curb, and the right rear wheel of the Force India sends the car crashing onto the right side of the track. A front wheel goes under the car’s chassis, causing it to overturn. Fortunately, the impact is not too severe, and the safety roll hoop does its job. Sergio Perez is able to extract himself from his single-seater and walk back to his pit. The red flag is, of course, waved. The suspension break on the Force India is nevertheless worrying: is the team, known to be in constant financial difficulty, using parts that are more worn than they should be?

After a ten-minute interruption, the session resumes. Nico Rosberg takes the opportunity to consistently improve his lap times. The German is one-tenth behind his teammate with a 1’25″250. However, both cars seem to have the potential to go five or six tenths faster. The session is also going well for the Red Bulls, which are in 4th and 5th places, despite recurring issues with the rear axle, which is problematic on this particular track, especially in the last right-hand corner before the starting line.

As only a few minutes remain in the session, a new spectacular incident occurs: Kimi Räikkönen’s wing breaks at the exit of a corner and goes under the Finnish driver’s car. The Ferrari driver returns to the pits at a slow pace. As there is a lot of debris on the track, the red flag is out again.

The session resumes but with only 58 seconds on the clock, it will be impossible for the drivers to improve. Jolyon Palmer, still without any time on the board, takes the opportunity for a final installation lap. The Lotus test driver, who pays to run on Friday morning, is unlikely to be satisfied with his investment today… As expected, the Williams are not very comfortable on this slow circuit (Bottas is 9th, Massa 14th). For his first Friday with Manor, Fabio Leimer finishes a second behind Will Stevens. He was notably seen spinning a lot during a start simulation. With 18 laps completed, the former GP2 champion has, however, driven six times more than his colleague from Enstone…

On their side, with a new engine, the McLarens performed quite well on a chassis-focused track: 11th and 12th for Alonso and Button. But it’s Lewis Hamilton, on his favorite circuit, who tops the timesheet. Nico Rosberg, however, is only a tenth behind, so the battle is expected to be close this weekend.