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Lewis Hamilton edged his team-mate Charles Leclerc to the fastest time in second practice as Ferrari dominated the first day of racing at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
After Leclerc comfortably topped Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Hamilton in Friday’s opening session, the seven-time world champion saw a big improvement late in the day to turn a half-second deficit into a 0.158s advantage over his team-mate.
Ferrari’s closest rival in a more representative second session was world champion Lando Norris, who finished just half a second behind Hamilton in his upgraded McLaren.
Hamilton said: “Overall it was a tough day. The conditions were quite challenging, with the wind making things a bit tricky and the track felt quite bumpy in places.
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Franco Colapinto lost control of his Alpine in the final corner before going into the barriers, prompting a red flag midway through the second practice session.
“The car felt better in FP2 and we made some good progress between the sessions, although we still need to improve in some areas. We will go through all the data overnight, keep working on the balance and hopefully find some more performance for tomorrow.”
While Ferrari’s pace at the Hungerring – many expected their car to match it – came as little surprise, the Italian team will be further encouraged by the unexpected struggles of championship leader Kimi Antonelli and his Mercedes team.
After sitting out the first session as Mercedes filled out one of their mandatory rookie driver sessions, Antonelli struggled badly to get back into action as he repeatedly went off track amid rear locking problems.
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George Russell admits Mercedes have work to do after a tough practice in Hungary, with Ferrari looking strong and windy conditions adding to their challenge
The 19-year-old Italian, who leads Hamilton by 45 points at the top of the standings, was just 13th and almost two seconds off the pace, while his team-mate George Russell was almost a full second off the lead time in fifth despite completing a flying lap on fresh soft tyres.
Verstappen was fourth, around seven tenths off the pace, with his Red Bull team-mate Issac Hajjar sixth behind Russell.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastre, who sat out the first session, was a disappointing eighth as he was overtaken by Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, but his deficit to team-mate Norris could possibly be explained by the Australian not having the same full upgrade package on his car.
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Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll avoids barriers when failure keeps him on track, triggering a red flag in P1 at the Hungarian Grand Prix
While Mercedes, along with McLaren and Red Bull, have time to gain on Ferrari ahead of Saturday’s final practice at 11.30am, the Italian team have established themselves as clear favorites for one of the most important qualifying sessions of the season, which follows at 3pm, live Sky Sports F1.
The session was interrupted by a red flag for around 10 minutes when Franco Colapinto crashed his Alpine heavily entering the final corner.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll did not feature after breaking his suspension in first practice, continuing the team’s miserable season as their unveiling of a 16-part upgrade package was overshadowed by the incident.
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Fernando Alonso says Aston Martin’s new upgrades have delivered the improvements they expected, making the car easier to drive, but admits there is more potential to unlock.
Fernando Alonso was able to show some signs of improvement in a performance car in second practice, despite being almost three seconds off the pace between the two cars in 2026 newcomer Cadillac.
Alonso had a remarkably fast lap written off for violating track limits, and the Spaniard said after the session that the car felt “very good” and met the team’s expectations.
Sky Sports F1’s Hungarian GP schedule
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Several drivers crashed into each other on the first lap of the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix
Saturday 25 July
9am: F3 sprint
11.15am: Hungarian GP Practice Three (session starts at 11.30am)
1.10pm: F2 Sprint*
2.15pm: Hungarian GP Qualifying Build-up*
3pm: Hungarian GP Qualifying*
5pm: Ted’s Qualifications Notebook*
Sunday 26th July
7.35am: F3 Feature Race
9.05am: Porsche Supercup
10.20am: F2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Hungarian GP Build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
2pm: Hungarian Grand Prix*
4pm: Hungarian GP Reaction: Checkered Flag*
5pm: Ted’s Notebook*
*Also on Sky Sports main events
Every session is live on Sky Sports F1 in Budapest for the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix. Sunday’s race starts at 2pm. Stream Sky Sports now – no contract, cancel anytime
