Charles Leclerc was the fastest in the first free practice session of the Formula 1 Hungarian GP. In the session held this Friday morning (24), the Monegasque clocked 1min19s075 to take the top spot on the leaderboard.
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Not even the Ferrari driver’s problem took him off the top at Hungaroring. Max Verstappen took second place, 0s484 behind the leader, with Lewis Hamilton, Isack Hadjar, and George Russell completing the top five positions.
Of the five rookie drivers scheduled for the first session of the weekend, Frederik Vesti was the one who finished best in seventh place after taking over Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes.
The only Brazilian on the grid, Gabriel Bortoleto maintained a good pace throughout the Hungarian practice and finished within the top-10, taking sixth position on the time sheet.
Now, the drivers return to the Hungarian track for the second free practice session this Friday, at 12 PM Brasília time.
Find out how the F1 Hungarian GP Free Practice 1 went:
For this opening weekend at Hungaroring, five rookie drivers would take over the cars of the main drivers. Leonardo Fornaroli was with McLaren, Ryo Hirakawa with Haas, Paul Aron with Alpine, Colton Herta in Cadillac, and Frederik Vesti in Mercedes.
For this round, Alpine is the only team that did not bring updates. The expectation is to see Aston Martin, which brings its first major package with 16 new features and practically a new car.
In the first session of the round, the weather was partly cloudy with a slight sun shining in the sky. The asphalt reached a temperature of 45ºC while the thermometer indicated 22ºC, with humidity around 30% and a light wind blowing at 3.6 km/h.
The clock started and the drivers were cleared to begin the session in Hungary. Most of the drivers currently on track opted for medium tires, with the exception of Cadillac and Aston Martin, who went for hard tires.
After the first laps, George Russell, who hopes to recover from bad luck in Belgium, was in first place with 1min22s056. Charles Leclerc was in second position, about 0s6 behind the Mercedes Briton.
Still in the first few minutes, Max Verstappen came on the radio to complain about an incident with Carlos Sainz. The driver said it was “unbelievable and dangerous” how slow the Williams driver was on track.
With just over ten minutes run at Hungaroring, Verstappen was in first position with 1min20s788. Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, Russell, and Lando Norris were in the top-5. Arvid Lindblad was performing excellently and was in sixth place with Racing Bulls.
Among the rookies on track, Fornaroli had the best performance, placing himself in seventh position, 1s6 behind Max.
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Looking at Aston Martin, things indeed seemed to be improving. Fernando Alonso was in 11th place, while Lance Stroll was right behind in 12th.
Hamilton was also not very happy with the car. The driver said the car was a bit difficult to drive, that it was very “stiff”.
Almost half of the practice completed and most of the drivers were in the pits. Leclerc was leading the session with 1min20s287, with Hamilton, Verstappen, Russell, and Liam Lawson completing the top five positions. At this point, Bortoleto was tenth.
Halfway through the FP1 session in Hungary, some drivers began to put on soft tires. Verstappen jumped to the lead once again with the red compound with 1min19s559, the first below 1min20s. Another on softs was Russell, in second.
Sainz had an apparent problem with his Williams. The Spaniard was in the pits for about 20 minutes with mechanics working on his car – the team said it was just a setup adjustment, but the driver was nowhere on track.
With about 23 minutes remaining until the checkered flag, a red flag was deployed due to Stroll. The Canadian had a suspension failure and had to stop in the run-off area – in the replay, it was possible to see that he spun alone but managed to avoid a collision with the wall.
Practice resumed at Hungaroring and the drivers would have 16 more minutes for the final laps. Leclerc is first, with Verstappen, Hamilton, Isack Hadjar, and Russell completing the top five positions on the time sheet.
A yellow flag was needed with just over ten minutes remaining until the checkered flag. The problem now involved Sainz, who locked his tires and went straight at the braking point, stopping in the run-off area.
In the final stretch, Leclerc came on the radio saying something broke, and Ferrari advised him to go to the pits. The Monegasque entered the pitlane and stopped in front of the pit scales, with mechanics rushing to retrieve the car.
Checkered flag and Leclerc took the best position on the leaderboard by clocking 1min19s075. Verstappen, Hamilton, Hadjar, and Russell were in the top-5. Meanwhile, Gabriel Bortoleto finished sixth.
F1 2026, Hungarian GP, Free Practice 1, results:
1) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1’19.075
2) Max Verstappen (Red Bull/Red Bull Ford) 1’19.559
3) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)1’19.618
4) Isack Hadjar (Red Bull/Red Bull Ford) 1’19.997
5) George Russell (Mercedes) 1’20.066
6) Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) 1’20.360
7) Frederik Vesti (Mercedes) 1’20.467
8) Nico Hülkenberg (Audi) 1’20.623
9) Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford) 1’20.760
10) Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford) 1’20.866
11) Lando Norris (McLaren/Mercedes) 1’21.024
12) Esteban Ocon (Haas/Ferrari) 1’21.051
13) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin/Honda) 1’21.550
14) Pierre Gasly (Alpine/Mercedes) 1’21.704
15) Alexander Albon (Williams/Mercedes) 1’21.819
16) Leonardo Fornaroli (McLaren/Mercedes) 1’21.890
17) Ryō Hirakawa (Haas/Ferrari) 1’22.001
18) Sergio Pérez (Cadillac/Ferrari) 1’22.089
19) Paul Aron (Alpine/Mercedes) 1’22.168
20) Colton Herta (Cadillac/Ferrari) 1’23.118
21) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin/Honda) 1’23.471
22) Carlos Sainz (Williams/Mercedes) 1’23.734
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