2023-07-21 12:33:21
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The Mexican is already under pressure this Friday
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The first free practice session for the Hungarian F1 Grand Prix took place at the Hungaroring. It marked the start of the 11th weekend of the season, which will bring us to the mid-season at the end of the race.
The big event of the weekend is obviously the return of Daniel Ricciardo, who will be the big attraction over the sessions. Everyone will want to see how well they can level up to their teammate.
Red Bull is the team that brings the most new features, with revised brake scoops, a modified floor, but above all more aggressive sidepods, with a thinner and wider air intake than the previous one.
Ferrari brought a new front wing adapted to the downforce needs of the Hungaroring. At Mercedes F1, front wing side fins and a rear wing make their appearance, while the front suspension has been slightly modified.
Alpine continues its modifications on the front wing and brings a variation slightly different from the version seen at Silverstone. Aston Martin has made slight changes to the engine cover, and at Haas F1, it is the rear of the floor that has evolved.
AlphaTauri also brought a series of novelties, after the big package brought to Silverstone with a front wing, a slightly higher nose, a reconfigured rear wing and an enlarged floor in its lower part.
Pérez and Sainz get into the wall
From the third minute of the session, the red flag was raised after Sergio Pérez left the track! Already threatened and under pressure at Red Bull, the Mexican driver bit the grass after turn 6 and lost control of his RB19, before hitting the wall with the left side, damaging the entire front part in particular.
An error to which did not fail to react Christian Horner, his boss. The red flag was raised, and the session resumed after the evacuation of the single-seater, with 49 minutes remaining. That’s when the rain hit the Hungaroring, via the start-finish straight.
Valtteri Bottas spun as the rain hit the last sector harder, and the drivers returned to the pits with 45 minutes to go. Bottas confirmed that it was “undriveable” on slicks”, after this figure performed at low speed.
The next half hour was very calm, with a few drivers attempting setup laps as the deluge slammed into the Hungaroring. Bottas was finally the first to set a time, then beaten by the Williams drivers, Logan Sargeant and Alex Albon.
The session was then interrupted again after Carlos Sainz went off the track. The Spanish driver hit the wall and broke his front wing, but mostly crashed on the curb while trying to get going.
The commissioners were able to push him, and he returned to his stand by his own means. At the same time, the FIA tested a simulation of a break in images and communications, to set up a plan B, in the event that one suffers a damage similar to that which had canceled the EL1 of the Canadian GP.
Several drivers returned to the track, Nico Hülkenberg taking the lead, before being beaten by Charles Leclerc. Subsequently, Fernando Alonso took the lead in 1’40″687, two tenths ahead of his team-mate Lance Stroll.
George Russell slipped into third place, and Bottas into fifth. Leclerc then progressed and moved up to third place. Lando Norris took the third fastest time, while Yuki Tsunoda spun and hit the barriers. The Japanese front wing was broken on its right side.
Note that during this end of the session, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton did not come out, certainly not wanting to take any risks. Russell set the best time in 1:40.444.
The trajectory was drying up, and Oscar Piastri took the best time in 1’39″906. Russell beat him in 1’39″652. Piastri regained the lead before Russell came back in the lead, having the last laugh in 1’38.795.
Piastri is second ahead of Stroll, Norris, Alonso, Bottas, Leclerc, Zhou, Sargeant and Hülkenberg. The times of the day are obviously not very interesting, the conditions having been very difficult to tame.
The only real lesson is the pressure Pérez finds himself under after this early exit. Fortunately for him, the rain limited his loss of running compared to the other drivers.
Pos.PiloteVoitureTempsTours 01 George Russell Mercedes W14 1:38.795 13 02 Oscar Piastri McLaren Mercedes MCL60 1:39.154 14 03 Lance Stroll Aston Martin Mercedes AMR23 1:40.013 10 04 Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes MCL60 1:40.277 13 05 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Mercedes AMR23 1:40 .657 8 06 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Ferrari C43 1:41.032 14 07 Charles Leclerc Ferrari SF-23 1:41.142 12 08 Guanyu Zhou Alfa Romeo Ferrari C43 1:41.363 9 09 Logan Sargeant Williams Mercedes FW45 1:41.416 15 10 Nico Hülkenberg Haas Ferrari VF-23 1:42.706 12 11 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari VF-23 1:42.906 14 12 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri Honda RBPT AT04 1:45.575 7 13 Alex Albon Williams Mercedes FW45 1:47.407 10 14 Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri Honda RBPT AT04 – :—.— 7 15 Carlos Sainz Ferrari SF-23 – :—.— 6 16 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Honda RBPT RB19 – :—.— 2 17 Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault A523 – :—.— 4 18 Pierre Gasly Alpine Renault A523 – :—.— 3 19 Max Verstappen Red Bull Honda RBPT RB19 – :—.— 4 20 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes W14 – :—.— 3
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