F1 Hungarian GP Live Commentary and Updates – FP1 & FP2

McLaren has switched from the medium to soft, and Norris is the first to show his hand as he laps just 0.074s shy of Russell and splits the two Mercedes cars at the head of the leaderboard.

Piastri slots into third, just behind Norris, while Tsunoda moves up into fourth with an improvement of his own using the softs. Leclerc meanwhile is setting purple sectors...

Perez has gone tenth on a new set of softs, but is almost a full second down on Sainz's benchmark. What can Verstappen do after a short spell in the garage?

Leclerc aborts his latest lap after a messy end to the lap, catching a big wobble mid-corner through Turn 11, then going too deep into Turn 12 and having to run wide around the exit kerb gravel he dipped into earlier. He remains second though for the time being.

Verstappen had drifted back to 15th as others improved on the rubbered-in track, but now volleys in the second-fastest time to go 0.276s behind Sainz.

That's not too shabby at all for Verstappen, given he was running on a set of used tyres. That may be all she wrote in terms of the qualifying simulation runs on softs, as Russell, Hamilton and Piastri emerge from the pits on mediums.

We've not talked about him an awful lot today, but Zhou is doing a more than respectable job currently in fifth spot, in ahead of both McLaren drivers. That's the same position he qualified for last year's race, which remains his best F1 grid position.

Curiously the fastest first sector of anybody so far has been set by Stroll in the Williams. Sainz is the quickest man through the remaining two sectors and the lap as a whole. 

Nobody is improving their times as we tick down the minutes in the session, with most drivers on softs or mediums. Only Leclerc is currently running on the hard, which he used earlier in the session too.

It's a good start to the weekend for Ferrari then, as Carlos Sainz heads the way in opening practice. Charles Leclerc slots into third, with Max Verstappen splitting the two scarlet cars in a Red Bull that is also carrying notable upgrades here.

Four tenths back from Sainz is George Russell in fourth, ahead of a resurgent Zhou Guanyu in fifth for Sauber and the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

The top 10 is completed by Yuki Tsunoda, Lance Stroll and Lewis Hamilton, with Sergio Perez 11th in the second Red Bull.

Daniel Ricciardo, Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon and Valtteri Bottas occupy positions 12-15, with Logan Sargeant slotting ahead of the Alpine drivers in 16th. Behind Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, Haas pair Kevin Magnussen and Oliver Bearman complete the order. Nico Hulkenberg will return to the cockpit for FP2 later on, as Bearman vacates to focus on F2 duties.

Teams now have a little over two hours to pour over data and potential set-up changes before going again for FP2 this afternoon. That session begins at 4pm BST.

We're going to take a pause on the live text commentary at this juncture, but do join us again later on as we bring you all the updates from FP2 as they happen. Until then, cheerio!

Good afternoon and welcome back to our Live text coverage from the Hungaroring. We're a little under 10 minutes away from the resumption of F1 running in Budapest as teams build up their banks of data.

After sitting out FP1, Nico Hulkenberg will have a bit of catching up to do in the Haas driven earlier on by Oliver Bearman. But then the German isn't exactly short on experience here. A veteran of 10 previous Hungarian GPs, his best result remains the sixth he scored for Williams in his first season back in 2010.

Hulkenberg may be a veteran of this event, but he's got nothing on Fernando Alonso. This is his 21st Hungarian GP - the same number of years since he won his first F1 race at this track back in 2003.

All of the cars that have headed out of the pits thus far are on medium tyres; in contrast to FP1 earlier when nobody had coordinated on their approaches and we had drivers using all three compounds from the outset.

Turn 11 and a small moment for Hamilton on his latest effort. In the opening exchanges, he is second to Perez, who leads the way with a 1m 18.568s. 

Continuing the theme of running the medium compound, Verstappen is completing his first run of the session, having to dodge traffic through the twisting middle sector.

A peculiar moment for Tsunoda there, as he makes contact with the light gantry in the pits while pulling out of his garage. No damage done - to the car at least! 

All drivers have registered times in the first 12 minutes and Verstappen appears to be over the worst of his brake issues, as he goes second, 0.156s back on Perez. 

Currently, it's Red Bull 1-2, Mercedes 3-4, and then four different manufacturers - RB, Ferrari, McLaren and Williams - in the following four positions. 

Piastri - one of two hard tyre runners - runs wide at Turn 12 onto the thin strip of gravel and lost significant time, keeping him in 13th. So far, this session appears to be an exercise in longer runs. 

Stick with us, the qualifying sims will happen soon enough!