F1 GP Hungary, Free Practice 1: Ricciardo precedes Raikkonen

Aggressive Red Bull in this first Free Practice session athungaroring, with Daniel Ricciardo author of the best time, 1:18.486. The Australian kept the Ferrari di Raikkonen , Mercedes di Hamilton, separated by 2 and 3 tenths respectively. Completing the top ten were Verstappen, Bottas, Vettel, Alonso, Vandoorne, Hulkenberg and Palmer. Even on the race pace RB13 they appeared definitely in form, on a track that this weekend will most likely see a three-way challenge for the front row. The Italian on the track in the morning Giovinazzi with the Haas, who however ended the session early due to going off the track which damaged the rear of his car.

News – The air temperature in Budapest was 22°C and the asphalt was 27°C when FP1 started, with Verstappen the first driver to leave the pits. For this session, Giovinazzi takes the wheel of Haas in place of Magnussen, while Celis replaces Ocon at Force India. Tire situation at the start: most of the grid is on medium, except Sauber, Force India and Alonso with the supersofts and Ricciardo alone with the softs. Ricciardo is the first to stop the clock, 1:21.469 his time, then quickly lowered to 1:21.212. After a short pit stop and the first installation laps, Bottas takes the lead with a time of 1:20.912, on red tyre. Followed by Ricciardo, Stroll, Palmer, Alonso, Ericsson, Grosjean, Massa and Raikkonen. All on supersoft. Grosjean spins at turn 9 and damages the rear, thus forcing him to return to the pits. Thirty minutes from the start Bottas is in the lead in 1:19.451, followed by Hamilton, Raikkonen, Vettel, Verstappen, Alonso, Massa, Vandoorne and Hulkenberg.

But here comes the red flag: Giovinazzi's Haas loses the rear and ends up against the barriers. At the restart, Verstappen moved up to fourth place, then Ricciardo took third position. Mid-session: Bottas, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Vettel, Alonso, Massa, Vandoorne and Hulkenberg. Bottas drops to 1:19.248, then Hamilton gets ahead of everyone, with a time of 1:19.095. The Mercedes driver improved quickly, dropping to 1:18.858. Ricciardo lines up with the rest of the grid and mounts the red compound. Thirty minutes from the end: Hamilton, Bottas, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Verstapen, Vettel, Alonso, Massa and Vandoorne.

Ricciardo slips into second place, Vettel goes up to fourth. Then it was Red Bull who took the reins of the group, with the Australian very fast, in 1:18.852. Grosjean's Haas returns to the track, while Raikkonen takes second place, 2 tenths behind Ricciardo. Grosjean slipped into 15th place, however complaining of brake problems. Ricciardo maintains his lead, having meanwhile dropped to 1:18.486, ahead of Raikkonen, Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen, Vettel, Alonso, Vandoorne, Hulkenberg and Palmer.

The session ends with Verstappen taking fourth place, and Palmer losing his front wing after a violent contact with a curb. The checkered flag gives Red Bull the best performance ahead of Raikkonen and Hamilton.

F1 GP Hungary – Times, results and laps Free Practice 1