F1 Hungarian GP Live Commentary and Updates – FP1 & FP2
Friday's action from the 13th round of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
F1 takes on a double-header dash before the summer break, starting in Hungary before a trip to Spa-Francorchamps, following the thrilling recent trio of races concluded by Lewis Hamilton’s emotional British GP triumph.
First practice starts at 12:30pm BST, followed by second practice at 4pm BST.
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After a fairly disastrous British GP, having crashed out in Q1 of qualifying and finishing 17th in the race, Sergio Perez has insisted that he will finish not only the 2024 season with Red Bull, but is confident he'll still be at the team in 2025 as well. Read more here.
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Red Bull garage, Max Verstappen will be testing the team’s upgrades that have been delivered for the Hungarian GP – the biggest update package of the season so far for the squad.
One driver who will surely be hoping Perez doesn’t make it to the end of his contract is Yuki Tsunoda. He’s confident that if the Mexican does get the boot, it would be him and not reserve driver Liam Lawson to get the promotion up to the leading Red Bull team. He’s explained why he thinks that here.
Yuki Tsunoda, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
While it’s not for the Hungarian GP, the FIA did announce that “selected Formula 1 teams” will have to fit new video cameras to check for flexi wing tricks at the Belgian GP next weekend. More about that here.
This could well be the last ever Hungarian GP for some drivers, as the grid sees a considerable shake-up in 2025. Kevin Magnussen is one of those drivers, as Haas confirmed he would once again leave the team, as Ollie Bearman makes the switch with an as yet unnamed partner for the US squad. With Haas out of the question, here's a look into the Dane’s options.
Kevin Magnussen, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Magnussen’s team-mate Nico Hulkenberg also won’t be driving for Haas in 2025, as he’ll make the switch to Sauber at the end of the season ahead of its transition to Audi. This wasn’t a simple decision, said the German, as he believes Haas still has room for improvement.
The 2025 driver market doesn’t stop at Haas though, as Alpine previously confirmed Esteban Ocon wouldn’t be driving for the French manufacturer in 2025. With so many contracts running out at the end of this season, Ocon’s team-mate Gasly believes there are “three good options” to replace him.
Pierre Gasly, Alpine F1 Team
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
With the current regs drawing to a close at the end of next year, the teams are naturally converging and gaps between them are closing. With six drivers taking wins so far this season, is 2024 becoming an unexpected cracker? Ben Hunt thinks so – find out why here.
That convergence is also paying dividends for the midfield teams, as each weekend proves better for a different squad. With so many different results, who’s really heading the midfield?
Alex Albon, Williams FW46, leads Pierre Gasly, Alpine A524, and Kevin Magnussen, Haas VF-24
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
One team who’s clawed its way out of the midfield and into a race-winning position over the past 18 months is McLaren, who turned around a dreadful start to 2023 to win in Miami in 2024. But the team has caught the eye with brake drum holes. Here's what is going on.
McLaren MCL38 drum detail
Photo by: Franco Nugnes
Of course it’s not only McLaren and Red Bull that are bringing updates and changes – Ferrari is also getting in on the action. They have a new floor this weekend – read more about it here.
Good afternoon to those of you who are just joining us, as we build up to first practice from the Hungaroring. We're a little over 15 minutes away from FP1 going green, so settle in as we bring you all the updates as they happen.
The Hungaroring is a circuit that has grown into something of a modern classic, especially when the weather turns unpredictable. Think of Jenson Button's first win in 2006 (joined on the podium in a one-off combination by Pedro de la Rosa and Nick Heidfeld), the 2011 thriller in similarly changeable conditions (also won by Button) or the 2021 counter when Esteban Ocon's well-timed tyre change after a first corner pile-up gifted him his one and only victory to date.
But even when the weather has been calm, the Hungaroring has still thrown up some magic moments. Michael Schumacher's three-stop strategy in 1998, Nigel Mansell pouncing on Ayrton Senna in 1989, Thierry Boutsen's non-stop race in 1990 to deny Senna, or even Lewis Hamilton beating Max Verstappen in a 2019 thriller. Lots to live up to for the Budapest track then.
Mercedes enters this weekend following victories in the last two races. The last time we could say that was in 2021... But even if Austria success for George Russell owed much to good fortune, things are certainly picking up for Mercedes. And that bodes well for Hungary, where it has snared pole despite middling machinery in each of the last two seasons.
Of course, there was a pervading feeling after Lewis Hamilton's triumph at Silverstone that this was another race that McLaren and Lando Norris perhaps could have won had they taken their final stop one lap sooner. But Norris is clear that whatever happens on the track, his peppy personality and 'nice guy' demeanour is 'irrelevant'. Here's what he had to say on the topic.
No prospect of rain today in Hungary, unlike when teams were setting up in the paddock on Wednesday. Under clear blue skies, the timing screens tell us there is a 0% chance of rain during FP1, which kicks off in two minutes' time.
Oliver Bearman is getting his latest outing in the Haas team he'll race for next season. He steps in for Nico Hulkenberg, who will return later.
We're green for FP1, with a deluge of cars immediately making their way out of the pits.
Among their number is Esteban Ocon, who appears set for a move to Haas following confirmation of Kevin Magnussen's departure. Williams boss James Vowles has confirmed that the 2021 Hungary winner did pay a visit to the factory for a seat fit, as he was under consideration for a drive at the team next year, but has ruled out the prospects of the Frenchman joining as Alex Albon's team-mate next year. More on that here.
We've got a real mix of tyre strategies in the early stages of the session, with all three compounds in use. Fastest so far is 2022 Hungary polesitter George Russell with a 1m20.980s on the medium.
Second-fastest is currently Valtteri Bottas, who could be in line for a move to Williams next year, although the team has not yet given up hopes of signing Carlos Sainz. Lots of machinations off the track, but we're here to talk about what's happening on it. So, without further ado...
Into the top spot now goes Verstappen, running on the soft. A 1m20.715s puts him fractionally ahead of Norris on a 1m20.750s, although the McLaren driver was on mediums.
Bottas, also on the mediums, now pings in a lap to put him third, 0.060s down on Verstappen's early benchmark.
The only driver yet to venture onto the circuit is Piastri. We'll update you once we hear more about the delays for the McLaren driver getting into the mix.
Russell now whirls to the fastest time on a 1m20.083s, putting six tenths between him and Verstappen on the soft in second.
But Verstappen responds, still on the soft, with a 1m19.831s to regain the top spot. Red Bull is running numerous upgrades this weekend, so this will be an important session to understand what changes they result in.
Norris has had a bit of a drama at the penultimate corner with the back-end stepping out dramatically on his McLaren, causing him to back out of a lap. He's been shuffled back to fifth in the order as Hamilton and Bottas spring ahead.
Meanwhile in the other Sauber, Zhou is complaining that "I have lots of things coming off my sidepod. Something else just came off on the left." That prompts him to visit the pits.
After missing the opening 13 minutes of the session, Piastri does now join the fray on the medium tyre.
Both Ferrari drivers are running on the hard tyres at the moment. They are line astern in the order too, with Sainz seventh and Leclerc eighth, both over eight tenths off the pace set by Verstappen on the soft.
Leclerc was less than a tenth behind Sainz, but much of that time loss could probably be attributed to a big oversteer moment exiting the penultimate corner. Remember, it has a modified floor here this weekend, which it hopes will address the problems introduced by the Barcelona upgrade that didn't quite live up to its name.
Continuing the Noah's Ark theme, the RB drivers are also huddling together in ninth and tenth spots as Ricciardo improves to nestle in behind his team-mate. This event one year ago marked the Australian's return to the F1 hot seat, after he replaced the disappointing Nyck de Vries.
Russell is aghast at Tsunoda as he gets on the power on the exit of Turn 1 and attempts to blast by the RB driver to his right, but the Japanese moves across and Russell has to slow with his right-hand wheels on the grass. Fruity language on the radio is the result.
Leclerc meanwhile has dipped two wheels over the freshly-inserted gravel on the exit of Turn 12. The solution here is similar to what was introduced for the Red Bull Ring, where previously drivers had no consequence bar a laptime deletion for transgressing the circuit limits.
Perez has also bolted on the soft tyres, but is currently languishing down in 16th position. It's always difficult to read too much into practice times as we don't know what fuel loads or engine modes the teams are running, but the Mexican is currently 1.3s down on his team-mate who heads the timesheets.
Ferrari continues to plug away with the hard tyres, and Sainz has found some bite in them to move into third on a 1m20.094s. But he's immediately pushed back a spot as Piastri assumes the position of Verstappen's closest challenger, slotting in ahead of Russell with a 1m19.838s.
The two Haas drivers Magnussen and Bearman are currently adrift from the field, 2s off the pace, but have now switched to softs which may provide a better indication of where the team's potential lies this weekend. The rest of the pack is split by 1.3s currently.
Albon now assumes the top spot with a 1m19.794s to push Verstappen into second by 0.037s. Magnussen and Bearman's first laps on the soft yield seventh and eighth spots.
Russell immediately fires in a new best lap of 1m19.137s, with Hamilton then going into second. Bottas and Perez have also improved on the softs to go sixth and seventh.
By: Autosport Staff
