Formula 1

Leclerc tops second free practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix

3 Mins read
Credit: Octane Photographic Ltd

Charles Leclerc topped the second free practice session of the 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary.

Lando Norris finished in second position, 0.217 seconds slower than the Scuderia Ferrari driver. Carlos Sainz finished in third position at the end of the session.

The second free practice session at the Hungaroring circuit in Budapest started under clear skies with air temperatures at 33 degrees C and track temperature at 47 degrees C.

The Pirelli tyre choice at this race is the white-striped hard compound tyres (C2), yellow-striped medium compound tyres (C3), and red-striped soft compound tyres (C4), the middle range of compounds in the Pirelli tyre range.

With rain expected on Saturday, the teams wanted to use the Friday practice sessions to the maximum. The drivers were out on the track when the lights went green and Valtteri Bottas set the first timed lap of 1m21.452s.

Leclerc went to the top of the time charts with a lap time of 1m18.911s on the medium compound tyres. Sainz then slotted into second position ahead of Max Verstappen.

Lewis Hamilton on his first run on the medium compound tyres was 1.9 seconds slower than Leclerc and in tenth position. Sergio Pérez who had a difficult opening session was in better form and was in fourth position. Sebastian Vettel also was having a better session as he slotted into fifth position.

With fourty minutes to go, the drivers started their qualification simulations on the soft compound tyres. Alexander Albon locked up heavily and was turned the wrong way around at Turn 1. Albon was able to return to the pits but he had flat-spotted his tyres badly.

George Russell on his soft tyres run went to fourth position. Lando Norris slotted into first position with a good lap on the soft compound tyres.

Leclerc soon regained the top spot with a lap time of 1m18.445s. Fernando Alonso went third on the time charts. Sainz then took third position behind Norris and Ricciardo took fourth position. The McLaren F1 team seem to have the pace so far this weekend.

Verstappen and Pérez could slot into fourth and eighth positions only on their soft compound tyre runs.

With twenty minutes to go, the drivers started their race simulations. Verstappen complained about the balance of his car. Hamilton went off at Turn 4 and told the pit wall that his car was unstable.

Leclerc pitted with some mechanical issues but was quickly back on the track. The session ended with the Ferrari driver on top.

Norris retained his second position, 0.217 seconds slower than Leclerc. Sainz was in third position ahead of Verstappen and Ricciardo.

The two veteran drivers, Alonso and Vettel, were in sixth and seventh positions. Russell, Bottas and Pérez rounded off the top ten positions at the end of the session.

As expected Ferrari have the one lap and race pace at this track with slow speed corners and short straights.

The Oracle Red Bull Racing team with its superior straight line speed blunted at this track has played second fiddle in the Friday sessions.

The McLaren F1 team are surprisingly in the mix with the top two teams. The Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team were off the pace and had tyre warm up issues on a very hot day. Alonso has put in some rapid laps and looks to be in good form.

If qualification is going to be wet, it will lead to a mixed starting grid. Grid position is all-important on this hard to overtake Hungaroring circuit.

2022 Hungarian Grand Prix Second Practice (FP2) Results:

PosNoDriverNat.TeamTimeGapLaps
116Charles LeclercMONScuderia Ferrari1:18.44527
24Lando NorrisGBRMcLaren F1 Team1:18.662+0.217s29
355Carlos SainzESPScuderia Ferrari1:18.676+0.231s29
41Max VerstappenNEDOracle Red Bull Racing1:18.728+0.283s26
53Daniel RicciardoAUSMcLaren F1 Team1:18.872+0.427s27
614Fernando AlonsoESPBWT Alpine F1 Team1:19.049+0.604s30
75Sebastian VettelGERAston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team1:19.253+0.808s31
863George RussellGBRMercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team1:19.355+0.910s28
911Sergio PerezMEXOracle Red Bull Racing1:19.397+0.952s28
1077Valtteri BottasFINAlfa Romeo Racing1:19.411+0.966s30
1144Lewis HamiltonGBRMercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team1:19.547+1.102s23
1224Zhou GuanyuCHNAlfa Romeo Racing1:19.605+1.160s26
1331Esteban OconFRABWT Alpine F1 Team1:19.614+1.169s27
1418Lance StrollCANAston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team1:19.702+1.257s30
1510Pierre GaslyFRAScuderia AlphaTauri1:19.730+1.285s28
1620Kevin MagnussenDENHaas F1 Team1:19.818+1.373s29
1747Mick SchumacherGERHaas F1 Team1:19.985+1.540s28
186Nicholas LatifiCANWilliams Racing1:20.488+2.043s30
1922Yuki TsunodaJAPScuderia AlphaTauri1:20.521+2.076s31
2023Alexander AlbonTHAWilliams Racing1:20.615+2.170s20
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