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Hungarian GP
F1 Hungarian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2
Updates from the Friday practice sessions at the Hungaroring for the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix
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Following Charles Leclerc’s crash while leading last weekend’s French GP, Max Verstappen picked up the win and extended his F1 world championship lead to 63 points over his Ferrari rival.
But the main talking point in the F1 paddock has been Sebastian Vettel’s announcement that he will retire from F1 at the end of 2022.
The Hungarian GP marks the final race before F1’s summer break.
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Off track
Hamilton is the latest to have an off-track moment as he runs wide at Turn 12. There's all kinds of detritus in the run-off area, so that will take a little while to clean his sticky soft tyres off.
Off track
Schumacher has had a hairy moment at Turn 3 as he catches a large oversteery moment that sends him beyond the kerb. Fortunately, unlike during qualifying at Turn 11 last year, he's able to catch it and continue unscathed.
Norris has done the fewest laps of anybody so far, but now on the mediums he moves ahead of Ricciardo into seventh spot on a 1m20.251s. The McLarens are yet to try the soft.
The AlphaTauri pair has also put their soft tyres to good effect, with Tsunoda and Gasly moving into eighth and ninth respectively, ahead of Albon.
Another to make a noteworthy improvement is Russell, who splits Leclerc and Verstappen by going second in the Mercedes. He reports"a bit of bottoming [out] into Turn 1" on that lap, a 1m19.606s. Hamilton meanwhile goes fifth, behind Sainz but ahead of Perez.
The first to use them to his advantage is Schumacher, who moves up to sixth in the newly upgraded Haas. Due to his close ties to Vettel, the retiring Aston Martin driver was asked yesterday whether he could be a viable option for the team in 2023, but the four-time world champion stressed it wasn't his decision to make: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/vettel-no-say-in-schumacher-as-aston-replacement/10344692/
A few others have now bolted on a set of the soft tyres, so we may see some more changes in the order beyond the top four in the coming moments.
Elsewhere in the paddock today, we caught sight of a new rear wing used by Aston Martin, which appears to break one of the key intention of 2022's rules. Here's more on this new development: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/the-new-aston-martin-rear-wing-that-aims-to-break-f1-2022s-rule-intentions/10345073/?nrt=54
Despite those distractions, Perez improves on his most recent tour - though stays fourth, 0.768s down on the marauding Leclerc.
That's one you don't hear over the team radio too often. Perez is overcome by a fit of sneezing, which must be dreadful in a helmet and balaclava while driving a Formula 1 car. A bit like sneezing in a face-mask while going around the shops, only much worse.
The times at the top are changing with more regularity than the UK government's cabinet at the moment, with Leclerc now muscling back into the top spot ahead of Verstappen once more. It's a 1m19.426s for Leclerc, 0.244s up on his Dutch rival.
It should come as no surprise that the top four is over a second quicker than Ricciardo in fifth currently, as nobody else has yet tried the soft red-walled compound that delivers ultimate laptime.
As Sainz grabs back the top spot from Leclerc, on a 1m19.671s, Perez completes the Noah's Ark effect at the front and moves into fourth behind Red Bull team-mate Verstappen.
He's got the fastest overall laptime, but Leclerc doesn't have the fastest sector time in any of the three splits. Sainz tops the first two, and Verstappen the third.
There's absolutely nothing between Leclerc and Verstappen at the moment. On their previous runs they were split by 0.018s, and it's currently half that - a scant 0.009s.
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Now Leclerc takes the top spot, becoming the first man to duck under the 1m20s barrier with a 1m19.863s. Verstappen soon follows but is just behind on a 1m19.872s.
We've yet to mention that Alfa Romeo is giving reserve driver Robert Kubica a run-out in Valtteri Bottas's machine. He's currently just behind team-mate Zhou Guanyu in P17.
Sainz now heads back to the top for Ferrari on a 1m20.184s, 0.041s ahead of Leclerc. Perez's first timed run puts him on the board in fifth, just shy of Ricciardo on the mediums.
Hamilton and Russell have now swapped places - it's the seven-time champion who now sits as the best of the hard tyre runners in sixth, with Albon still sandwiching them. Ricciardo in fourth is the best medium tyre runner, ahead of defending race winner Ocon in fifth.
Having yet to complete a lap after an early installation run, Perez heads out again - once more on the soft tyres.
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Now Leclerc goes quickest on a 1m20.225s, which Verstappen comes close to matching but just falls shy on a 1m20.243s. Just the 0.018s between them!
Ricciardo improves too, the 2014 Hungary winner moving into second on a 1m20.796s. Russell is the quickest of the hard-shod cars in sixth, with Hamilton eighth behind Albon's Williams on the medium tyre.
Sainz now wrests away top spot with a 1m20.696s, which puts him 0.539s up on Verstappen.
So there's 0.143s between Verstappen and Sainz at the top, with Ricciardo in third place on medium tyres 0.197s behind. There's plenty still to find then as the track rubbers in. Leclerc is fourth, 0.482s down on Verstappen, also on soft tyres.
Russell has radioed his Mercedes engineers to notify them of a strange whistling sound in the turbo, and seeks assurance that everything is okay. Meanwhile Alonso has a near-miss behind Stroll that causes the Alpine driver to run over the kerbs as he passed around the outside of Turn 3.
But that time is rapidly vanquished, with Verstappen now top ahead of Sainz - the Dutchman setting the benchmark at 1m21.235s, a tenth up on his Ferrari counterpart.
Albon currently heads the times so far for Williams, with a 1m24.171s set on the medium tyres.
As Norris and Russell head out, intriguingly four drivers have taken soft tyres. They are the Red Bull pair and the Ferrari pair.
Only three drivers are still in the pits as the early minutes of the session sees a torrent of activity on track. Just the Mercedes pair and Norris elect to stay home.
Vettel, you may recall, finished second on the road last year after pressing Ocon most of the way, but was disqualified for not having enough fuel to provide a post-race sample. Autosport's team of journalists compiled our favourite Vettel races following news of his announcement - did it make the list? https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/autosport-writers-favourite-sebastian-vettel-f1-drives/10344558/
Green flag
The session is underway, and both Astons head out of the pits, with Vettel followed by Lance Stroll.
Drivers are in their cars ready to go, and the man of the moment, Sebastian Vettel, is already waiting at the end of the pitlane.
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We're getting closer now to the start of FP1, which is due to get underway in around two minutes time. Air temperature is 32.0 °C, track temperature is 56.0 °C and there is no prospect of rain. Ideal.
In non-Vettel related news, Haas has finally introduced its first upgrade package of 2022 for Hungary. Tweaks to the bodywork, sidepods, diffuser and floor have moved the car in the same direction as Ferrari – its partner team. Here's what we know about it so far: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/haas-says-no-surprise-in-ferrari-copy-after-hungary-upgrade-revealed/10344959/
One of the drivers out of contract at the end of this year is Alpine's Fernando Alonso, but he appeared to pour cold water on links to joining Aston Martin and expressed his desire to continue with his current team in 2023. Here's the latest from Alonso on his future and belief that a 10-minute conversation could be enough to agree terms: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/alonso-a-10-minute-conversation-enough-to-decide-alpine-f1-future/10344875/
The four-time world champion's exit, motivated by a desire to spend more time with family and a discomfort with his increasing interest in environmental issues, will leave a vacant seat at Aston Martin next year alongside Lance Stroll. Who will fill it, at this point, is a question mark - but there are a few early contenders as Adam Cooper outlines here: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/who-will-replace-vettel-at-aston-martin-after-his-f1-exit/10344534/
The big news, in case you've been under a rock for the past 24 hours, was Sebastian Vettel's revelation yesterday that he'll retire from F1 at the end of the season. That has prompted a swarm of tributes from rivals, led by long-time rival Lewis Hamilton: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/hamilton-leads-tributes-to-one-of-the-greatest-in-f1-vettel/10344727/
That of course misses out the relentless chaos of last year's race, won by Alpine's Esteban Ocon, when a first-corner pileup instigated by Valtteri Bottas took several contenders out of the running and a strategy own-goal from Mercedes left Lewis Hamilton to take the restart alone on the grid (the rest of the field were in the pits changing tyres). We'll do well to see a sight more surreal sight than that this year...
By: autosport.com
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