2024 Hungarian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 F1 results
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz leaves the pits at the Hungaroring during the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix.
From a swelteringly hot Hungaroring, check out the complete results from an intriguing first practice session.
With air temperatures in the low 30 degrees Celsius, a hot and sticky Hungaroring awaited the drivers at the start of the first practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen, fitted with the new upgrades on his Red Bull, headed out to get a banker lap in on the soft tyres as most of his immediate rivals opted for the medium tyres for their first runs.
With attention turning to the soft tyres, it was Mercedes who took over at the top as George Russell led Lewis Hamilton before the Ferrari duo of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc went to the front – Sainz popping in a 1:18.713 to lead Leclerc by almost three-tenths of a second.
Having dominated the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, the similar characteristics of the Hungaroring – tight and twisty with few straights – appear to be playing to the strengths of the Ferrari once again as both Scuderia drivers showed strong pace during the practice hour.
With just over 10 minutes to go, Verstappen came back out on the same set of soft tyres he’d used for his early run and all but matched Sainz through the first sectors – losing a quarter of a second in the third sector to slot into second place and split the Ferraris.
A later lap on the same tyres saw Verstappen go quicker than Sainz through the first sector, before falling away through the remainder of the lap and ultimately not improving – his pace on his older tyres proving eye-catching as a hint that Red Bull’s upgrades have worked.
With Sainz leading Verstappen at the front and Leclerc in third, Russell finished the session in fourth ahead of Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu. The Chinese driver clearly enjoyed the umpteen upgrades the Swiss team have rolled out for the Hungarian Grand Prix and all but matched Russell’s time as he reached the chequered flag in the top five.
McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were sixth and seventh, and VCARB’s Yuki Tsunoda was eighth. Lance Stroll, using the old-spec Aston Martin as Fernando Alonso tested the team’s upgrades, finished in ninth, with Lewis Hamilton rounding out the top 10 in his Mercedes.
More on the latest Hungarian Grand Prix F1 news
Red Bull’s major Hungarian GP upgrades revealed as Max Verstappen hopes for improvement
Hungarian Grand Prix: Ferrari on top but Max Verstappen pace catches the eye
2024 Hungarian Grand Prix First Practice (FP1) Results
- 1. Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:18.713
- 2. Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.276
- 3. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.298
- 4. George Russell Mercedes +0.424
- 5. Zhou Guanyu Sauber +0.467
- 6. Lando Norris McLaren +0.498
- 7. Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.536
- 8. Yuki Tsunoda VCARB +0.547
- 9. Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.552
- 10. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.574
- 11. Sergio Perez Red Bull +0.727
- 12. Daniel Ricciardo VCARB +0.865
- 13. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.973
- 14. Alex Albon Williams +1.081
- 15. Valtteri Bottas Sauber +1.091
- 16. Logan Sargeant Williams +1.172
- 17. Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.263
- 18. Esteban Ocon Alpine +1.310
- 19. Kevin Magnussen Haas +1.582
- 20. Oliver Bearman Haas +1.698
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