Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo started the 2018 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix on a good note by topping the timesheet in the first practice session at Hungaroring.
After Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel led the way early in the session, Red Bull’s Ricciardo lowered the time with his 1m17.613s lap to go to the top – that too on the soft compound while Vettel did his 1m17.692s lap on the ultrasoft.
The German did find traffic on his quick lap which limited his chances to improve further. But as expected, Red Bull looked quicker on track with Max Verstappen slotting in third with a 1m17.701s lap on the soft compound as well.
The Dutchman recovered well from an early spin in Turn 1. Kimi Raikkonen (1m17.948s) in fourth made it an all-Red Bull and Ferrari Top 4 as the Italian manufacturer is sporting a black stripe on its cars in the memory of former boss Sergio Marchionne.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (1m1m18.036s) and Valtteri Bottas (1m18.470s) were fifth and sixth respectively after the German team also opted to clock its fastest lap on the soft compound. Hamilton also had a brief off moment in the session.
Despite having missed a chunk of running in the session due to a precautionary check for a leak, Haas’ Romain Grosjean (1m18.975s) returned to the circuit to finish seventh and the best of the rest ahead of Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg (1m19.025s).
The German also had his troubles after he was forced to stop midway in the session with a mechanical issue. Teammate Carlos Sainz (1m19.128s) was ninth as Haas’ Kevin Magnussen (1m19.187s) rounded out the Top 10.
The Haas team will be buoyant this weekend as Ferrari has proved them and Sauber with the new Spec 3 engine. Just outside the Top 10 was Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly (1m19.352s) who also had a kerb moment but managed to save the car.
The Frenchman along with teammate Brendon Hartley (1m19.841s) in 13th clocked their time on the soft compound. McLaren’s Fernando Alonso (1m19.690s) in 12th was sandwiched between the two Toro Rosso drivers.
In a better show from Williams, Lance Stroll (1m1m120.012s) finished 14th ahead of Force India’s Esteban Ocon (1m20.065s), McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne (1m20.151s) and Sergio Perez (1m20.159s) – the two Force India drivers also set their time on the soft compound.
Sauber’s Antonio Giovinazzi (1m20.293s) – who sat in for Charles Leclerc – was 17th with Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin (1m20.307s) and Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson (1m20.697s rounded out the 20 finishers. The Swede had a tough time with multiple spins in the session.