Ferrari's Charles Leclerc closed out a frantic FP2 session in preparation for Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix, as neither Red Bull nor Mercedes set the Formula 1 timing screens alight.
The Monegasque beat Silverstone podium-finisher Lando Norris to the uppermost echelon of the timing board amid a session that was influenced by both earlier rainfall and the alternative tyre allocation trial set for qualifying on Saturday. Two red flags had stifled running in FP1, as did the emergence of precipitation over the Mogyorod area, leaving the drivers to find scarce grip on a 'green' circuit in FP2.
With the allocation of dry tyres reduced from 13 to 11 for the Hungary weekend owing to the trials of set tyre compounds for each phase of qualifying, teams had to be sparing with their allowances despite the lack of dry running in FP1. Regardless, here are the key takeaways from Friday practice for Hungarian Grand Prix.
The story of the day
A rain-affected opening free practice session at the Hungaroring yielded very little in terms of useable data, save for token runs on the wet compounds of tyre as two red flags interrupted many of the teams' run plans. At the top of the session, under-pressure Sergio Perez's Red Bull swapped ends at Turn 5 and left him careening into the wall, producing the first of two pauses in running.
In the break as the stricken RB19 was fished out of the barrier, rain began to fall and intensified enough to put all dry running into check for the rest of the session. Drivers tentatively visited the ever-dampening circuit on intermediate rubber - and, in Kevin Magnussen's case, the wet compound - to explore the limits of grip available. Carlos Sainz then brought out the second red flag in the second half of the session having lost control of his Ferrari on the exit of Turn 3, clunking the inside barrier on the stretch towards Turn 4. The Spaniard nibbled off part of his front wing and was spared blushes by the marshals after beaching his SF-23 on the grass.
George Russell's late effort on intermediate tyres was enough to catapult the Briton to the top of the timing boards, ahead of Oscar Piastri and Lance Stroll, and there were threats of continued rain into FP2.
Source: Autosport