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<\/p>\nIt certainly seemed that way as Ferrari topped Friday\u2019s two practice sessions.<\/p>\n
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Hamilton set the fastest time of the day as he beat Leclerc by 0.148 of a second in the second session, with Lando Norris a distant third for McLaren, .499 away. George Russell was the best Mercedes in fifth and Antonelli only 13th in a session interrupted by a red flag when Franco Colapinto spun into a barrier.<\/p>\n
In the first session, Leclerc went fastest by nearly half a second from Max Verstappen of Red Bull, with Hamilton a close third. Russell was fifth fastest in that session, too, while Antonelli sat out as the team worked toward its quota of practice sessions for non-regular drivers. Reserve Fred Vesti was seventh.<\/p>\n
Struggling Aston Martin made some progress with an upgraded car as Fernando Alonso<\/a> placed 13th in the first session but a suspension failure sent teammate Lance Stroll spinning wildly. The damage ruled Stroll out of the second session.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the last race before F1\u2019s annual midseason break, and the next race won\u2019t be until the Dutch Grand Prix on Aug. 23.<\/p>\n One Mercedes driver leads, the other under pressure<\/p>\n \u201cStill a lot of work to do, still a mountain to climb in the second half of the season, but I\u2019m more focused than ever and really believe that we can fight,\u201d Hamilton said.<\/p>\n After the last race ended with celebrations for one Mercedes star and rancor from the other, this week in Hungary is a test of whether F1\u2019s top team can stay united.<\/p>\n Antonelli almost doubled his lead to 45 points over Hamilton, and 50 over teammate George Russell, with a win in Belgium<\/a> last week after Hamilton sent Russell spinning off the track on the opening lap.<\/p>\n Russell vented his frustration in an expletive-filled radio message asking Mercedes why he\u2019d suddenly lost speed and dropped behind Hamilton, forcing him into a risky overtake. <\/p>\n Mercedes deputy technical director Simone Resta said Friday it was down to \u201ca bug in our software\u201d and the team found the problem. \u201cWe think we\u2019ve finally understood it and nailed it coming into Budapest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Hungary will have fewer software quirks<\/p>\n