Ferrari's Charles Leclerc emerged as the fastest driver in Friday's second free practice session ahead of the highly anticipated Hungarian Grand Prix. The practice was relatively calm compared to the earlier session, which was marred by crashes and rain.
Leclerc clocked an impressive best lap time of 1 minute and 17.686 seconds, narrowly edging out McLaren's Lando Norris by a mere 0.015 seconds. Alpine's Pierre Gasly secured the third spot, followed closely by Yuki Tsunoda from Alpha Tauri and Esteban Ocon in the second Alpine.
Surprisingly, the usual frontrunners, Red Bull and Mercedes, opted against pushing for low-fuel high-speed laps in this session. As a result, none of their drivers managed to break into the top ten in the timesheets, providing an unfamiliar order at the top of the grid.
Nico Hulkenberg had an impressive outing for Haas, securing the sixth position, while Valtteri Bottas from Alfa Romeo trailed in seventh place. Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, making his presence felt, secured eighth place ahead of Zhou Guanyu from Alfa Romeo and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, who had encountered a crash in the morning session.
Red Bull's defending double world champion Max Verstappen had a relatively quiet session and finished in the 11th position. His teammate Sergio Perez, who faced trouble in the earlier session with a heavy crash, found himself in 18th place.
For Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion, concluded the session in 16th place, while George Russell, the talented young driver, finished in 20th place.
The practice session commenced in better conditions than the rain-soaked opening session, with an air temperature of 22 degrees Celsius. Norris showcased his speed early on, setting a competitive lap time and eventually being pipped to the top spot by Leclerc.
Despite the practice session being relatively routine and orderly, the unpredictable weather and track conditions still posed challenges for the drivers. As the lap times fell, Leclerc and the other top contenders displayed their prowess, setting the stage for an exciting race weekend.
(With inputs from AFP)
