F1 Hungarian GP: Sainz quickest in FP1 over Verstappen, Leclerc

Carlos Sainz opened the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend with the fastest time in FP1, over a quarter of a second clear of Formula 1 championship leader Max Verstappen.

Sainz posted a 1m18.713s amid a flurry of soft-tyre runs at the start of the session's second half, beating an earlier benchmark set by team-mate Charles Leclerc.

High track temperatures had pushed the mercury above 58C, creating difficult conditions for the drivers to coax their cars around the Hungaroring.

George Russell opened with a 1m20.980s benchmark on medium tyres, which was overturned by Verstappen - who went almost three tenths quicker on the softs.

Although the Mercedes driver found more time to set a 1m20.083s, Verstappen continued to circulate on the C5 tyre and posted the first sub-80-second time: a 1m19.831s.

Oscar Piastri got close to this on the mediums, falling just 0.007s shy of the Red Bull driver, although Alex Albon then hurled his Williams to the top of the order before the session ticked over into its second half. The Anglo-Thai driver set a 1m19.794s on softs, but this was eclipsed by Russell's first soft-tyre lap: a 1m19.137s.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20 (Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images)

Leclerc got his Ferrari onto top spot five minutes later, but this was later eclipsed by team-mate Sainz, who logged a 1m18.713s - both drivers running soft tyres and equipped with a new floor in response to the instability issues caused by its Barcelona package.

Verstappen attempted to return to the top, but his 1m18.989s fell just short of Sainz's earlier effort; it was nonetheless good enough for second, two-hundredths of a second clear of Leclerc.

Leclerc and Russell were third and fourth, while Zhou Guanyu survived an earlier issue with his Sauber shedding cooling louvres from its new sidepod package to sit fifth in the timing order.

Lando Norris and Piastri were sixth and seventh fastest, while RB's Yuki Tsunoda was close behind with the eighth-best time.

Although running Aston Martin's older package for FP1, as the Silverstone squad introduced new upgrades for Hungary, Lance Stroll claimed the ninth-fastest time. British GP winner Lewis Hamilton was 10th in the order, 0.15s clear of Sergio Perez.

F1 Hungarian GP - FP1 results

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	C. Sainz Ferrari	55		Ferrari	Ferrari	27	1'18.713		200.368
2	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1		Red Bull	Red Bull	20	+0.276 1'18.989	0.276	199.668
3	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	29	+0.298 1'19.011	0.022	199.612
4	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	28	+0.424 1'19.137	0.126	199.294
5	Z. Guanyu Sauber	24		Sauber	Ferrari	24	+0.467 1'19.180	0.043	199.186
6	L. Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	26	+0.498 1'19.211	0.031	199.108
7	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	26	+0.536 1'19.249	0.038	199.013
8	Y. Tsunoda RB	22		RB	Red Bull	26	+0.547 1'19.260	0.011	198.985
9	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Mercedes	25	+0.552 1'19.265	0.005	198.973
10	L. Hamilton Mercedes	44		Mercedes	Mercedes	29	+0.574 1'19.287	0.022	198.917
11	S. Perez Red Bull Racing	11		Red Bull	Red Bull	22	+0.727 1'19.440	0.153	198.534
12	D. Ricciardo RB	3		RB	Red Bull	27	+0.865 1'19.578	0.138	198.190
13	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Mercedes	24	+0.973 1'19.686	0.108	197.921
14	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	22	+1.081 1'19.794	0.108	197.653
15	V. Bottas Sauber	77		Sauber	Ferrari	28	+1.091 1'19.804	0.010	197.629
16	L. Sargeant Williams	2		Williams	Mercedes	26	+1.172 1'19.885	0.081	197.428
17	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Renault	26	+1.263 1'19.976	0.091	197.204
18	E. Ocon Alpine	31		Alpine	Renault	26	+1.310 1'20.023	0.047	197.088
19	K. Magnussen Haas F1 Team	20		Haas	Ferrari	27	+1.582 1'20.295	0.272	196.420
20	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	50		Haas	Ferrari	27	+1.658 1'20.371	0.076	196.234
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