Hungarian GP: Perez's rollover, Red Bull's form highlight Friday practices

R.J. O'Connell · Jul 24, 2015

Lewis Hamilton topped both Friday practice sessions for the Hungarian Grand Prix, starting with a first session that was interrupted for several minutes after Sergio Perez rolled his Force India at the exit of Turn 11.

It was a low-speed, but still spectacular sight as the Mexican driver spun at the exit of Turn 11, hitting the barrier head-on and then rolling over its right-front tyre as it bounced back onto the track. With a spectacular shunt being the last thing many wanted to see in the first session of an emotionally-charged weekend, the fact that Perez was unhurt was a welcome relief. Perez's crash happened in the last half-hour of the session, and required fifteen minutes' stoppage to clear up. In spite of this, Perez was eighth-fastest in the first session.

By this point, Hamilton had already set the fastest time of the session, with his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg close behind. Each were able to set their fastest laps of the day, including Hamilton's 1:25.141 before another stoppage for a front wing failure on the SF-15T of Kimi Raikkonen, who still set the third-fastest time of the session, six tenths ahead of his teammate Sebastian Vettel in sixth.

With the Hungaroring emphasising downforce over engine power, the power-deficient Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat enjoyed a great session, finishing fourth and fifth respectively. Their junior counterparts at Toro Rosso also enjoyed a better session than in recent rounds, with Carlos Sainz seventh and Max Verstappen tenth. Both McLaren Hondas, now on fresh engines, also showed very well - Fernando Alonso was eleventh, just ahead of his teammate Jenson Button in twelfth.

The session saw the Formula 1 practice debut of 2013 GP2 Series champion Fabio Leimer, who turned eighteen laps for the Manor F1 Team in place of Roberto Merhi. Leimer was appointed the team's reserve driver in June, and has been linked as a candidate to race one of the Manor cars later in the season.

FP1 Results

Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 25.141s
Nico Rosberg GER Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 25.250s
Kimi Raikkonen FIN Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 25.812s
Daniel Ricciardo AUS Red Bull-Renault 1m 26.053s
Daniil Kvyat RUS Red Bull-Renault 1m 26.070s
Sebastian Vettel GER Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 26.395s
Carlos Sainz Jr ESP Toro Rosso-Renault 1m 26.727s
Sergio Perez MEX Force India-Mercedes 1m 26.776s
Valtteri Bottas FIN Williams-Mercedes 1m 26.825s
Max Verstappen NED Toro Rosso-Renault 1m 26.934s
Fernando Alonso ESP McLaren-Honda 1m 27.272s
Jenson Button GBR McLaren-Honda 1m 27.308s
Nico Hulkenberg GER Force India-Mercedes 1m 27.317s
Felipe Massa BRZ Williams-Mercedes 1m 27.381s
Felipe Nasr BRZ Sauber-Ferrari 1m 27.409s
Marcus Ericsson SWE Sauber-Ferrari 1m 27.732s
Pastor Maldonado VEN Lotus-Mercedes 1m 28.568s
Will Stevens GBR Manor Marussia-Ferrari 1m 29.693s
Fabio Leimer SWI Manor Marussia-Ferrari 1m 30.631s
Jolyon Palmer GBR Lotus-Mercedes Did not set a time

The second session would be without either of the Force Indias, as the team worked dilligently to repair Perez's damaged car, they were also looking into the cause of the suspension failure that caused his FP1 crash - and as a precaution, Nico Hulkenberg was parked for the second session.

Track temperatures climbed above 50°C on another hot summer day near Budapest, which caught out the likes of Romain Grosjean, who normally excels in Hungary and still completed 39 laps, and Sebastian Vettel, who spun his Ferrari twice. Roberto Merhi, now back in the second Manor, also had a massive slide and an even better save to avert disaster on the slick, scalding track.

Hamilton and Rosberg again saw their greatest threat in the form of the Red Bulls of Ricciardo and Kvyat in the second practice session, but the mechanical gremlins that have plagued Red Bull for most of the season once again turned up with half an hour left as Ricciardo's RB11 came to a stop, smoking heavily and ending the session early for the defending winner of this race - and causing the lone stoppage of FP2.

Despite only completing sixteen laps, Ricciardo's best time still held up for an astonishing third-fastest, just a tenth off Kvyat's fastest time which put him second to complete the struggling former four-time champion team's most competitive outing of the season.

Hamilton's best time of the day, a 1:23.949, was the only lap that cleared the sub-1:24 mark on the session, and Rosberg could manage no better than fourth behind both of the Red Bulls. Raikkonen was again over a half-second faster than his teammate Vettel, who were fifth and seventh in their Ferraris, split by the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz in sixth.

Meanwhile, the strength of the McLaren MP4-30 was further revealed as Fernando Alonso wheeled his McLaren to eighth, ahead of his teammate Jenson Button in twelfth, both the Williams cars in ninth and tenth, and the Toro Rosso of Max Verstappen in eleventh.

With just one practice left to go before Saturday qualifying, the story to watch for will be whether or not Red Bull can maintain their strong form on Saturday and Sunday and remain Mercedes' biggest threat to a ninth win of the season. Despite that, Lewis Hamilton seems to have all the pace and confidence needed to contend for his fifth victory at the Hungaroring.

FP2 Results