F1, GP of Hungary: Ferrari wins the first battle against Red Bull but with an unexpected fighter

Formula 1 has entered its last round before the summer break, which will last almost a month, until the Belgian Grand Prix on 28 August. But here and now, in Hungary, the fight between Ferrari and Red Bull continues, albeit with two unexpected guests: Mercedes and McLaren.

In the first free practice of the Hungarian GP, ​​where rain is expected for Saturday’s qualifying and a chance in Sunday’s forecast, Carlos Sainz was the fastest, stopping the clock in 1: 18.750, beating Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc.

The Monegasque, fresh from an incredible crash in France when he was leading the race and is second in a championship dominated by Verstappen, was unable to get his teammate out of the top, even if for a moment he did.

It was when, with a time of 1: 19.426, Leclerc surpassed by 471 thousandths not only the Dutch but also the Spaniard, who had been the first to lower the high times at the beginning of the session, placing himself in front (1: 20.696), ahead of Daniel Ricciardo.

But the fight was not between Ferraris but between the great animators of the season and this is how Verstappen and Leclerc ended up separated by just 9 thousandths at mid-session. A virtual draw that kept the Monegasque the best of the day.

The situation was repeated less than 20 minutes before the end of the training, when Sainz dominated the session with a time of 1: 19.262. Verstappen then became the first to lose that minute and 19 seconds by setting a time of 1: 18.880, with new red tires and records in divisions one and three.

The Dutchman thus left Leclerc the challenge of cutting that lead by more than half a second. In the first attempt he was at 159 thousandths, in second place.

Sainz was the next Ferrari to challenge him but managed to overtake him: 1’18’750, 130 thousandths faster than the reigning champion and 289 faster than his teammate, taking advantage of that second sector in which Ferrari is fastest.

While Mercedes switched to hard tires, the one that took advantage of the soft tires was McLaren, with a Lando Norris finishing fourth, ahead of George Russell (5th) and Lewis Hamilton (7th), among whom he appeared. a Czech Pérez who has not yet made it fit as his partner at Red Bull.

Meanwhile, in the rear, Sebastian Vettel appeared more than a second and a half from the advantage but with another goal in mind: to play another Grand Prix to add to all those who will remain until his retirement from Formula 1, which will give him in the last test of this year, on November 20 in Abu Dhabi.

Absent from training Valtteri Bottas, who sold his car to Robert Kubica, who managed to place the Alfa Romeo only 19th.

The second training session will start at 12 and can be followed by both Fox Sports and Star +.