F1 Hungarian GP: Russell tops FP1 after Perez crash and rain

Before the one-hour session really got going, it was suspended when Perez crashed on his first timed lap on the medium tyres – the field split across running that compound and the softs at this stage.

With two minutes completed and before anyone had set a time, Perez lost control of his RB19 after dipping his left-rear on the outside grass through the long right of Turn 5.

It snapped away from him in a full 360-degree spin and speared into the wall on the outside, which damaged the newly upgraded sidepods on its left side, as well as both front corners.

The session was suspended for eight minutes by red flags as the Red Bull was recovered, after which most of the pack headed back out again, but conditions had quickly changed with the rain coming down.

Kevin Magnussen was set to produce the first timed lap while running the mediums, but as he reached the final turns where the rain was falling heaviest, he came across Valtteri Bottas recovering from a spin in his Alfa Romeo and all the cars then piled back into the pits.

That led to a lengthy lull in action – other than single exploratory laps for Lewis Hamilton, Esteban Ocon, Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, with Ferrari driver Sainz having moments at the Turns 6/7 chicane at the Turn 12 right at the start of the third sector before he pitted.

Charles Leclerc ventured out just before the halfway point before he too pitted, shortly after which McLaren sent both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri out, just as the rain got heavier.

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB19 crash (Photo by: Ronald Vording)

Piastri had a big slide exiting the fast left of Turn 4 at the end of the first sector, with both McLarens and Magnussen, who had joined them in the brief excursion, quickly returning to the pits.

Norris informed McLaren he did not agree with the call to pit at this stage with just over 25 minutes remaining but joined his team-mate as Pierre Gasly likewise tried a single tour on the inters.

Bottas headed out with 20 minutes remaining and declared conditions “drivable”, with the Finn then attempting the session’s first flying lap to big cheers from the crowd watching the pit straight.

Bottas, his C43’s rear end twitching as he traversed the soaked circuit, plunged on and duly set a benchmark first time at 1m47.787s, some 30s slower than would normally be expected here in FP1.

A gaggle of cars had headed out in Bottas’s wake, with the Williams pair forging ahead with their first timed laps – first Albon’s 1m47.407s and then Logan Sargeant’s 1m46.838s put them American into first place.

The session was then stopped again after Sainz spun accelerating onto the short straight between the fast, downhill Turn 3 right and clipped the wall on the inside lightly with both left-side corners of his Ferrari.

He tried to get going again from facing backwards but got beached on the kerb and had to be pushed away by the marshals under red flag conditions, revealing he had knocked off the left-side endplate of his front wing.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL60 (Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images)

FP1 resumed with 11 minutes remaining and most the drivers headed back out – although many including Max Verstappen and Hamilton did not, which meant they ended the session without a time on the board.

Nico Hulkenberg moved ahead of Sargeant with his first inters flier on a 1m44.722s before that was shaded by Fernando Alonso’s 1m43.277s and Leclerc’s 1m42.909s.

The times continued to tumble as the drivers completed their short final stints before the chequered flag, with Alonso moving back to first place ahead of the last five minutes with a 1m40.687s.

In the final two minutes, Russell took over with a 1m40.44s that was beaten by Piastri’s 1m39.906s before the Mercedes driver nipped back ahead just before the chequered flag fell.

Piastri’s final lap was a 1m39.154s, but Russell had stayed on it and nearly two minutes after the chequered flag had first come out, he finally set the session’s best time ahead of Piastri at 1m38.795s.

Lance Stroll completed the top three ahead of Norris, who shuffled Alonso – in the pits for the final minutes – down to fifth.

Then came Bottas and Leclerc, with Zhou Guanyu able to head out and secure eighth late on after Alfa had had to investigate an electrical energy deployment issue on his car following the brief early dry running.

Sargeant and Hulkenberg ended up closing out the top 10, with Magnussen 11th and Yuki Tsunoda 12th – the AlphaTauri racer crawling back to the pits late on after an unshown incident that knocked off the right-side of his front wing.

Albon ended up 13th as the final runner with a time on the board, a group that did not include F1 returnee Daniel Ricciardo in the other AlphaTauri.

F1 Hungarian GP FP1 results

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

       

Driver Info			Main Information Additional Data
Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	G. Russell George Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	13	1'38.795		159.639
2	O. Piastri Oscar Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	14	+0.359	0.359	159.061
3	L. Stroll Lance Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Mercedes	10	+1.218	0.859	157.695
4	L. Norris Lando Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	13	+1.482	0.264	157.280
5	F. Alonso Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Mercedes	8	+1.892	0.410	156.639
6	V. Bottas Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo	77		Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	14	+2.237	0.345	156.104
7	C. Leclerc Charles Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	12	+2.347	0.110	155.935
8	Z. Guanyu Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo	24		Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	9	+2.568	0.221	155.595
9	L. Sargeant Logan Sargeant Williams	2		Williams	Mercedes	15	+2.621	0.053	155.513
10	N. Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team	27		Haas	Ferrari	12	+3.911	1.290	153.560
11	K. Magnussen Kevin Magnussen Haas F1 Team	20		Haas	Ferrari	14	+4.111	0.200	153.262
12	Y. Tsunoda Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri	22		AlphaTauri	Red Bull	7	+6.780	2.669	149.387
13	A. Albon Alex Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	10	+8.612	1.832	146.839
14	D. Ricciardo Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri	3		AlphaTauri	Red Bull	7
15	C. Sainz Carlos Sainz Ferrari	55		Ferrari	Ferrari	6
16	S. Perez Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing	11		Red Bull	Red Bull	2
17	E. Ocon Esteban Ocon Alpine	31		Alpine	Renault	4
18	P. Gasly Pierre Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Renault	3
19	M. Verstappen Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1		Red Bull	Red Bull	4
20	L. Hamilton Lewis Hamilton Mercedes	44		Mercedes	Mercedes	3
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