F1 Hungarian GP FP1: Norris sets the pace as Alonso subbed out

Spread the love

The Hungarian GP weekend kicks off with FP1 at 13:30 local time, with the newly renovated Hungaroring circuit hosting the final round of racing before the F1 summer break.

Conditions are warm and sunny so far, though there is a chance of rain for race day on Sunday.

Fernando Alonso will miss the first practice session due to a muscular back injury. Aston Martin confirmed the news on Friday morning, announcing that reserve driver Felipe Drugovich will step in for FP1. A decision regarding Alonso’s involvement in the second practice session and the rest of the event will be made at a later time.

Paul Aron replaces Nico Hulkenberg at Sauber, although unlike in Alonso’s situation, this is a planned FP1 outing for the young Estonian driver.

Meanwhile, championship leader Oscar Piastri aims to build on his momentum following last weekend’s victory at the Belgian GP. The Australian took his first F1 win at the Hungaroring in 2024, though it came amid some drama, as McLaren’s pit wall inadvertently created some chaos with controversial strategy decisions.

Green light

The drivers waste no time as the session gets underway. A mix of medium and hard tyres has been deployed, with George Russell setting the early benchmark at 1:19.111.

Just 10 minutes into the session, Pierre Gasly reports a loss of power in his Alpine. The team instructs him to return to the pits and assure him they’ll work on resolving the problem.

Charles Leclerc briefly tops the timing charts before being pushed down by teammate Lewis Hamilton, McLaren’s Piastri, and then Norris in quick succession.

“Where is that one second?” asks Hamilton, evidently puzzled by the full second he’s losing to Norris. Race engineer Riccardo Adami informs him that the time loss is occurring in the high-speed sections, specifically Turns 5, 8, and 9.

Alex Albon is finding his rhythm in the Williams, jumping to second on the hard tyres at the 20-minute mark.

It’s a challenging start to the weekend for Hamilton, who complains that “the car doesn’t feel good” as he’s shown being wheeled back into the Ferrari garage on the broadcast.

Norris reclaims the top spot with a new fastest time of 1:16.837, six tenths clear of Leclerc in second.

Aron triggers the first yellow flag of the session, pulling over as he radios in to inform the Sauber pit wall of a “systems critical alarm” on the car. The yellow flag turns into a brief VSC period as marshals remove the stricken Sauber.

Second half of the morning session

It’s been a quiet start to FP1 for Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, who remains without a points finish in Europe this season. He currently sits 19th, over two seconds off Norris’ benchmark. Russell’s early-session pace has also tapered off, it seems.

Several drivers are now switching to the soft tyres, including the Ferrari pair, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, and Max Verstappen. Leclerc immediately goes purple in the first sector and jumps to P1 with a 1:16.791. Albon, also on softs, slots into third, an encouraging start to the weekend for Williams, particularly on his side of the garage.

Norris then responds with a blistering lap on softs, reclaiming the top spot with a 1:16.052, a commanding seven and a half tenths quicker than Leclerc’s latest effort. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll also joins the soft tyre run and moves up to third.

Some mistakes have started to creep in, causing drivers like Albon and Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto to lose time on their laps. Replays reveal massive lock-ups for Norris, Drugovitch and Hamilton.

Racing Bulls’ star rookie Isack Hadjar quietly goes P5 on the softs, later improving to P4, ahead of Verstappen, who is ninth with just 12 minutes left on the clock.

Some friendly fire between the Racing Bulls drivers, as Liam Lawson takes evasive action to avoid running into his teammate.

A difficult session for Sauber. After a mechanical issue cut Aron’s FP1 outing short, now rookie Bortoleto is out of the car with 5 minutes of running left.

Russell complains about not being able to “turn the car” as the session winds down. The Mercedes duo has climbed to P7 and P8, but it hasn’t been the smoothest morning for the Brackley-based team.