Renault struggles early on

Alonso, who won the race last year, was 10th fastest with team-mate Trulli, who is expected to confirm his move to Toyota shortly, down in 17th.

"Track conditions today were very poor, and it was therefore difficult to learn very much for the rest of the weekend," said Alonso. "I certainly think we will have a more interesting programme tomorrow. But having said that, on a Friday, your aim is always to be confident in the tyres you will choose, and after these two sessions, we are.

"The car was very understeery today, particularly because the front tyres were graining, but that is normal here in Hungary on a Friday. We will be able to sort this out in the next sessions."

Trulli added: "The car balance changed a lot between the two types of tyre that I ran today, and so it was hard to make much progress on the set-up side. The car was quite inconsistent this morning and then the scenario changed completely for the afternoon, which explains my position in the times.

"Whatever our performance today may suggest, though, I think we can be competitive this weekend. Let's see what happens tomorrow."