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Jake Boxall-Legge

F1 Hungarian GP: Leclerc leads FP2 as Verstappen only 11th

In contrast to the two red-flag periods and inclement weather that interrupted the earlier hour-long session, second practice was run in the dry despite earlier threats of continued rainfall.

The Williams duo kicked off the session with times in the mid-1m19s, Logan Sargeant emerging ahead of Alex Albon, but the two were quickly eclipsed by Lando Norris's 1m19.044s as the field sought to make up for the rain-affected lost running in FP1.

Sargeant moved into top spot once more with a 1m18.836s, although the Williams FW45 was bearing soft tyres in the early phases of the session against the remainder largely using the mediums.

He remained at the top of the times for the next 15 minutes as the field continued their medium tyre explorations, and a lap on soft tyres from FP1 crasher Sergio Perez was not enough to topple the American from his perch.

Max Verstappen's first lap on the red-walled compound was much closer, but was 0.075s away from Sargeant's benchmark. Instead, it was Albon who managed to knock his team-mate off the top, having extracted a 1m18.377s from a set of medium tyres.

Albon's reign over the session did not last as long as his team-mate's as the soft tyre runs began to intensify; Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg briefly held positions on top of the timing boards before Yuki Tsunoda fired his way to top spot with a 1m17.934s.

A 1m17.701s for Norris on softs brought him above Tsunoda, where he remained as the session crept over the half-hour mark. The Briton's time withstood an effort from Alpine's Pierre Gasly, but Leclerc then swept to the fastest time at that stage with a 1m17.686s - a scant 0.015s clear of Norris.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19 (Photo by: Michael Potts / Motorsport Images)

Further efforts from the Red Bulls did not yield any improvements in pace, although Verstappen had persevered with the same set of softs in the opening 45 minutes of the session. Perez in the meantime had picked up new mediums, but this did not yield an improvement in lap time before his retreat to the pitlane.

The rest of the field had settled into their longer runs in their efforts to focus on Sunday's race, with no further improvements in time as the drivers stretched their reduced allocation of Pirelli tyres to their limits.

Thus, Norris could not offer Leclerc a riposte towards the end of the session, as Gasly completed the top three over former team-mate Tsunoda.

Esteban Ocon was fifth fastest, although his Alpine team had arguably taken its eye off the ball when releasing him from the garage midway through the session; the Frenchman's mechanic ushered him out of its holding bay, causing Leclerc to check up as he was in the pitlane.

Hulkenberg was sixth fastest, a shade behind Ocon's best, as Valtteri Bottas placed his Alfa Romeo seventh in the FP2 timing order. Fernando Alonso ended Friday with the eighth-best time, as Zhou Guanyu and Carlos Sainz completed the top 10.

Verstappen's best was only good enough for 11th, completing only 18 laps - only Perez with 13 tours of the circuit completed fewer. Mercedes did not star in the session either, and Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were 16th and 20th.

The returning Daniel Ricciardo put his AlphaTauri in 14th, behind Stroll and Albon, and Kevin Magnussen completed a top 15 that fit within a 0.818s bracket.

F1 Hungarian GP: FP2 results

 
 
       
Driver Info
 
 
 
   
Cla Driver # Chassis Engine Laps Time Interval km/h
1 Monaco C. Leclerc Charles Leclerc Ferrari 16 Ferrari Ferrari 20 1'17.686   203.017
2 United Kingdom L. Norris Lando Norris McLaren 4 McLaren Mercedes 30 +0.015 0.015 202.978
3 France P. Gasly Pierre Gasly Alpine 10 Alpine Renault 26 +0.232 0.217 202.412
4 Japan Y. Tsunoda Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 22 AlphaTauri Red Bull 31 +0.248 0.016 202.371
5 France E. Ocon Esteban Ocon Alpine 31 Alpine Renault 30 +0.359 0.111 202.083
6 Germany N. Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team 27 Haas Ferrari 29 +0.372 0.013 202.049
7 Finland V. Bottas Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 77 Alfa Romeo Ferrari 29 +0.399 0.027 201.979
8 Spain F. Alonso Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 Aston Martin Mercedes 32 +0.419 0.020 201.928
9 China Z. Guanyu Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 24 Alfa Romeo Ferrari 31 +0.422 0.003 201.920
10 Spain C. Sainz Carlos Sainz Ferrari 55 Ferrari Ferrari 20 +0.496 0.074 201.729
11 Netherlands M. Verstappen Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1 Red Bull Red Bull 18 +0.593 0.097 201.479
12 Canada L. Stroll Lance Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18 Aston Martin Mercedes 33 +0.633 0.040 201.376
13 Thailand A. Albon Alex Albon Williams 23 Williams Mercedes 32 +0.691 0.058 201.227
14 Australia D. Ricciardo Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri 3 AlphaTauri Red Bull 30 +0.699 0.008 201.206
15 Denmark K. Magnussen Kevin Magnussen Haas F1 Team 20 Haas Ferrari 27 +0.818 0.119 200.901
16 United Kingdom L. Hamilton Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 44 Mercedes Mercedes 28 +1.060 0.242 200.284
17 United States L. Sargeant Logan Sargeant Williams 2 Williams Mercedes 30 +1.150 0.090 200.055
18 Mexico S. Perez Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing 11 Red Bull Red Bull 14 +1.292 0.142 199.696
19 Australia O. Piastri Oscar Piastri McLaren 81 McLaren Mercedes 18 +1.431 0.139 199.345
20 United Kingdom G. Russell George Russell Mercedes 63 Mercedes Mercedes 23 +1.489 0.058 199.199
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