British driver George Russell (Mercedes) set the fastest time in the first free practice session of the Hungarian Grand Prix, which took place largely in the rain. So much so that seven drivers failed to complete a timed lap.
In principle, the weather should be milder during the rest of the weekend, but in the meantime, it was in the rain that a large part of the first free practice session of the Hungarian Grand Prix took place. A session marked by two red flags, which earned a big tens of minutes of stoppage. It was first Sergio Perez, driving his Red Bull, who made a mistake in the third minute, when the rain had not even started to fall. The Spanish driver missed turn 5, spun before hitting the wall of tires, destroying the front of his car. The session was able to resume when the rain arrived on the Hungaroring, and some drivers went to test the intermediate tires (Perez, Ocon, Sainz, Albon…) while the others stayed under cover.
🚩RED FLAG🚩
3 minutes after the start of free practice 1, Sergio Pérez brakes in the grass and sends himself into the background 🤯#HungarianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/gkY3VmKIHi
— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) July 21, 2023
No time for Verstappen, Hamilton and the French
Sixteen minutes from the end of the session, Valtteri Bottas, fitted with intermediate tyres, ended up registering the very first time of this session on the time sheet: 1’47″787. And in the process, the second red flag of these EL1s was waved, because Carlos Sainz Jr had just blocked his Ferrari on the curbs in turn 3, after having put the wheels in the grass then tried to start again. After the marshals helped him get back on the track, when there were only a few minutes left, Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso then Charles Leclerc set the fastest time.
And in the end, it was George Russell who ended up winning this session, in 1’38″795. The Mercedes driver beat Oscar Piastri by 359 thousandths in his McLaren and Lance Stroll by one and two tenths in his Aston Martin, while the sun was making its appearance again. No less than seven drivers did not have time to complete a timed lap, like the French from Alpine Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, and world champions Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. They hope to be able to do so in the second session, at 5:00 p.m.
