After the rain of first free practice session, the sun kisses the Hungaroring for the FP2 in Hungary. The best performance goes to Charles' Ferrari Leclerc ahead of Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly.
Ferrari: Leclerc is there, Sainz is struggling
If on the one hand there is a red in front of everyone, that of Charles Leclerc, on the other there is a Carlos Sainz who however did not find the right feeling with the car. Spanish does not go beyond the tenth position. Who knows whether the small mistake that saw him as the protagonist during the first free practice session may have affected the feeling with his SF-23. The times recorded on the race pace are also evidence of Sainz's problems, in which Leclerc seemed to be significantly in better shape.
Verstappen doesn't try qualifying, but flies on the race pace
Behind Carlos Sainz, there is Max Verstappen. A somewhat anomalous position on the part of the Dutchman, who complained of problems with the rear during his push lap, which was unsuccessful. After that, Verstappen preferred not to try the qualifying lap again. The two-time world champion, in fact, particularly shone with his race pace, confirming that he was the great protagonist for Sunday. However, his teammate is still in difficulty Perez who doesn't go beyond eighteenth position.
Super Norris
To confirm, even if it's only Friday, the good things seen at Silverstone are McLaren which shines especially with Lando Norris. The English driver flies particularly well at race pace, showing great consistency. Surprisingly, at least at the moment, it is only British considering that Piastri doesn't go beyond the penultimate position. Good session also for their, at least on paper, rivals of Alpine with third place for Gasly and fifth for Esteban Ocon.
Different work
It was a quite particular FP2, also characterized by different tire management implemented by the teams. At Alfa Romeo, for example, neither Bottas – seventh – nor Zhou – ninth – they used and marked their time with soft tyre, shining particularly on the race pace. Same strategy chosen by the two Mercedes. In fact, what is surprising is the choice of the Brackley team not to refer to the qualifying simulation, with Hamilton who snatches sixteenth position, while Russell is at the bottom to close the ranking.
The qualifying format debuts tomorrow
The Hungarian GP ends with these FP2s on Friday. So see you tomorrow, with the third free practice session scheduled for 12.30, followed by qualifications – with the debut of the Pirelli format – scheduled for 16.00 pm.
FP2 Hungary, the ranking
1 Charles Leclerc
2 Lando Norris
3 Pierre Gasly
4 Yuki Tsunoda
5 Esteban Ocon
6 Nico Hulkenberg
7 Valtteri Bottas
8Fernando Alonso
9 Guanyu Zhou
10 Carlos Sainz
11 Max Verstappen
12 Lance Stroll
13 Alexander Albon
14 Daniel Ricciardo
15Kevin Magnussen
16 Lewis Hamilton
17 Logan Sargeant
18 Sergio Perez
19 Oscar Plates
20George Russell
