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<\/p>\nThere are invariably some anomalous patterns on the first day of Formula 1 practice around the Hungaroring. <\/p>\n
The demands its long, medium-speed corners make of the rear tyres \u2013 overheating them to the extent that even a qualifying lap requires tyre management \u2013 make the set-ups even more compromised than usual.<\/p>\n
There’s variance as everyone tries to find a workable compromise between rear-protecting understeer over a qualifying lap and decent long run duration. <\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s trying to read the evolution of a track which ramps up in grip spectacularly \u2013 and also a surface\/layout combination which can overwork the medium tyre more than the soft.<\/p>\n
But some things shine through regardless. <\/p>\n
McLaren has got a good margin on the field, even running what appear to be conservative power settings. That 0.4s advantage over Charles Leclerc\u2019s Ferrari over a single lap is probably only slightly flattering. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the long runs, Leclerc is closer but the McLaren drivers appear to have split how they would hit the long runs \u2013 with Norris beginning much more aggressively than Piastri. Leclerc seemed to have found a happier medium. As such, the long run averages probably flatter the Ferrari slightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a promising day,\u201d Norris allowed. \u201cThe car felt good from the first couple of laps. <\/p>\n
Long run averages<\/p>\n
1 Alonso* 1m22.030s (4 laps)
2 Piastri 1m22.130s (9 laps)
3 Norris 1m22.132s (7 laps)
4 Leclerc 1m22.214s (7 laps)
5 Antonelli 1m22.359s (10 laps)
6 Hamilton* 1m22.407s (8 laps)
7 Albon 1m22.427s (9 laps)
8 Russell 1m22.450s (6 laps)
9 Verstappen 1m22.476s (9 laps)
10 Sainz 1m22.658s (11 laps)<\/p>\n
*on soft tyres, all other drivers on mediums<\/p>\n
“The competition is tight, but I’ve got a good feel for what we need from the car, so we\u2019ll work on that overnight and make sure we\u2019re in the best possible position going into qualifying tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking at how each of the top three cars derive their laptime, the Ferrari is slow to bring its tyres up to temperature and falls significantly behind the McLaren and Mercedes early in the lap. <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/XPB_1364769_HiRes.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The Mercedes has no such trouble in generating good initial temperature but is wildly overheating its rears by the end of the lap. <\/p>\n
By the Turn 6-7 chicane, George Russell (helped by the best straightline speed) is even marginally ahead of Lando Norris. But over the lap he falls to 0.8s behind \u2013 and 0.4s off the Ferrari.<\/p>\n
Lewis Hamilton was less happy with the Ferrari\u2019s balance than Leclerc and was generally a couple of tenths adrift. But his long run simulation was made on the soft tyre so there is no direct comparison.<\/p>\n
Russell knew the tyre demands of this place were never going to be a good match with the Merc\u2019s traits. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe’ve re-introduced the previous specification of our rear suspension to find more stability in the car,” he said. <\/p>\n
“We didn’t expect to have a major breakthrough moment but overall, the car felt better to drive and gave me more confidence.\u201d <\/p>\n
Kimi Antonelli was on much the same pace as Russell, a welcome development after the despair of Spa.<\/p>\n
The McLaren\u2019s temperature control is, as ever, in a different class to the others and this would seem to lay the foundation for another race of McLaren dominance.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/XPB_1364595_HiRes.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
In terms of the comparison between Norris and Piastri, both have found it a little tricky to make error-free laps on new tyres, Piastri in particular. <\/p>\n
\u201cA few bits to tidy up,\u201d as he put it. But he and Norris appear incredibly evenly matched.<\/p>\n
The hierarchy on Friday was very unambiguously McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes. It couldn\u2019t be said with certainty that the Red Bull was even clearly the fourth-fastest car. <\/p>\n
Max Verstappen sounded despairing as the RB21 seemingly became ever less well-balanced as the track evolved. The circuit\u2019s long corners are not a good fit with the Red Bull\u2019s traits and the requirement to protect the rear tyres just made it even more of a handful over a race stint simulation. <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/XPB_1364592_HiRes-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\u201cToday was quite tough,\u201d Verstappen admitted, \u201cand it was a low grip feeling in the car and not as balanced as we would have liked. <\/p>\n
“It is difficult to say what the problem was, as nothing really worked. We need to understand what was causing the problems and I\u2019m sure that we can do better and turn things around.\u201d<\/p>\n
More from the Hungarian Grand Prix<\/p>\n
Verstappen’s first practice defeat and Red Bull Friday woes explained<\/a> Williams and Racing Bulls were snapping at the heels of Verstappen and appear quite evenly matched, the RB better over a lap but worse on the long runs than the Williams. Aston Martin\u2019s P4\/5 positions in the headline times were in no way reflected in the car\u2019s long run performance and might be the product of a lighter fuel load.<\/p>\n Alonso\u2019s fast average in the long run, which tops the above table, was relatively meaningless at a duration of just four laps on the soft tyre compared to the longer medium runs of most of the others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are invariably some anomalous patterns on the first day of Formula 1 practice around the Hungaroring. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40364,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":["post-40363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Everything you need to know from FP1 at F1’s Hungarian GP<\/a>
Verstappen’s bizarre towel incident + pace struggles in Hungary FP2<\/a>
Aston Martin to make decision on Alonso Hungarian GP participation<\/a><\/p>\n