Paul Jeffrey
Premium
Young British hopeful George Russell ended F1 testing in Budapest in fine style, topping the timesheets for Mercedes and setting a new circuit lap record.
Russell would have a very competitive second day of testing for his AMG Mercedes team, the British 20-year-old F2 championship leader and Mercedes reserve completing a commendable 116 laps earlier today, bolting on a set of Ultrasoft tyres late in the day to set an impressive 1:15.575, just 0.074 quicker than Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen, the Finn having a bumper day behind the wheel of his car with 131 laps on the clock, the exact same number as Red Bull junior Jake Dennis in third.
Following on from his fastest time yesterday, Antonio Giovinazzi would swap the scarlet of Ferrari for Sauber overalls today, the Italian setting a very solid 1:17.558 to end up fourth overall with 120 laps, ending two very productive days of running as he prepares for a potential full season debut in 2019.
Behind Giovinazzi would be Force India and their reserve driver Nikita Mazepin, the Russian delivering the least laps of any driver as he enjoyed more seat time in the pink car, having plenty of disturbances with two stoppages out on track for a range of mechanical issues.
Fan favourite Robert Kubica would end the day in sixth position with 103 laps to his name, the Polish driver rather interestingly setting a time that eclipsed anything the Williams drivers managed during the Hungarian Grand Prix race weekend, again laying down a very impressive marker in his bid to return to the Grand Prix grid in the near future.
Kubica would also have an opportunity to spend time with the new for 2019 specification front wing, delighting a large contingent of Polish fans in the grandstands across from the Williams pitlane, before eventually setting his quickest lap on the fastest Ultrasoft tyre compound.
Behind Kubica would be highly rated F2 championship challenger and McLaren junior Lando Norris, followed by Artem Markelov in the Renault and Toro Rosso drivers Sean Gelael, Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley, performing Pirelli testing duties, rounding out the rest of the times.
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