Just one week after the French Grand Prix, the Formula 1 single-seaters roared again at the Hungaroring circuit for the last appointment before the summer break in which all the teams will recharge their batteries to face the second part of the 2022 season. But before resting, the drivers enjoyed an hour of free practice 1 on Friday, where Sebastian Vettel was the clear protagonist after announcing his retirement from the highest category of motorsport.
In those 60 minutes of activity, Carlos Sainz continued with the good feelings he left behind after the appointment at Paul Ricard, where he climbed from the last row of the grid to fifth position, to finish at the top of the classification table, leaving more than a tenth away from the clear favorite to retain the title, Max Verstappen.
The other two drivers from the leading teams, Charles Leclerc and Sergio Pérez, had mixed luck, and the fact is that the Monegasque finished in third position, almost three tenths behind the Madrid driver, while the Mexican found one of the Haas when he He was about to do his best lap, so he had to settle for sixth place.
In the middle zone, Lando Norris surprised, who with the McLaren rose to fourth place with a good turn, followed by the Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, who finished in fifth and seventh place respectively. Behind the silver arrows, the other single-seater from Woking, Daniel Ricciardo’s, was eighth, one second off the fastest times, and the two Alpines closed the top ten, with Esteban Ocon leading the pair with whom Fernando Alonso turns 41 today.
Hungarian GP 2022 F1 FP1 Results
| Cla | Pilot | Chassis | laps | Weather | Difference | Km/h | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Carlos Sainz Jr. |
 |
ferrari | 26 | 1’18,750 | 200,274 | |
| 2 |  Max Verstappen |
 |
Red Bull | 24 | 1’18.880 | 0.130 | 199.944 |
| 3 |  Charles Leclerc |
 |
Ferrari | 26 | 1’19.039 | 0.289 | 199.541 |
| 4 |  Lando Norris |
 |
McLaren | 21 | 1’19.299 | 0.549 | 198.887 |
| 5 | George Russell |
 |
Mercedes | 28 | 1’19.606 | 0.856 | 198.120 |
| 6 |  Sergio Pérez |
 |
Red Bull | 24 | 1’19.622 | 0.872 | 198.080 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton |
 |
Mercedes | 25 | 1’19.710 | 0.960 | 197.862 |
| 8 |  Daniel Ricciardo |
 |
McLaren | 28 | 1’19.841 | 1.091 | 197.537 |
| 9 |  Esteban Ocon |
 |
Alpine | 30 | 1’20.348 | 1.598 | 196.291 |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso |
 |
Alpine | 27 | 1’20.377 | 1.627 | 196.220 |
| see results | |||||||
Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix 2022 FP1 Recap
The Grand Circus wanted to reach the summer break, but before that he had to play the Hungarian Grand Prix, which began with the news that Sebastian Vettel will retire from Formula 1 once the current campaign ends. Precisely, the German was the one who opened the track in the weekend of competition at the Hungaroring, although the rest of the grid was also in a hurry to go out and test, and only a few single-seaters, including Lewis Hamilton’s, were left waiting in the garage in the first few minutes.
However, the Mercedes driver was soon put on the asphalt, where Fernando Alonso celebrated his 41st birthday amid rumors about the confirmation of his renewal with Alpine for 2023. The first scare of the day was taken by the Spaniard, who on a flying lap he ran into Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin and had to go wide of the lane to avoid contact.
The winner of the last race, Max Verstappen, was the one who hit first, with a 1:21.235 thanks to the soft tyres, leaving the Ferraris several tenths apart on a circuit where they are expected to do very well due to its nature of acceleration and traction, in addition to the fact that the tires must be managed.
However, Carlos Sainz, who made a great comeback at Paul Ricard to finish fifth after coming off the back of the grid, took the lead as the clock ticked down to the first 10 minutes of the session on the softs. His teammate, hurt by the accident that cost him the victory in France, responded with another lap to get the Madrid-born away from the lead, and it was the moment in which the favorites were already ahead.
The only novelty of the participants in these first free practices was Robert Kubica, who returned to the controls of the C42 to follow the development of the Swiss single-seater, while Haas studied his “white Ferrari” after acknowledging that they copied the design of the Maranello car for the rest of the year.
Before completing the first 20 minutes , Leclerc improved again to drop from 1:20 with the softer compounds, at a time when the Mercedes were placed with clear contenders to be the third team in the Hungarian event, with Esteban Ocon hot on the heels of the British couple of the Silver Arrows, despite the fact that Daniel Ricciardo was an unexpected guest at the party in fourth position with the media.
The Maranello duo demonstrated their thirst for victory from the start, and Carlos Sainz beat Leclerc again to take first place with a 1:19.671 , two tenths behind the Monegasque and Verstappen, as well as half a second behind Sergio Pérez, all of them with the same rubber. Behind, the order of the middle zone was not clear, since the Alpine, Mercedes, McLaren, even the Williams of Alex Albon, were shuffled among the top 10.
Before reaching the halfway point of these morning free sessions, which are now becoming more evening due to the changes in the FIA schedules, Charles Leclerc returned to the top of the standings with a 1:19.426 , a time that left two tenths difference to his closest rival for the title, Verstappen, while the vast majority were in the garage making adjustments to their cars to find the ideal set-up.
One of those who did it was Carlos Sainz, who spent a few minutes in the box to modify his F1-75, at the moment in which George Russell reported some bounce in his car, a W13 that is getting better and better in any track, and the one-two finish on the podium in France proves that to be the case.
With new Pirelli shoes loaded with gasoline, the drivers returned to the track to continue studying the behavior of their cars at the Hungaroring, and there was another scare for Lewis Hamilton, who lost control of his car and went to the dirty area of the track without major consequences. He wasn’t the only one, as Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri had a big tire lockup at Turn 1, which was no problem to stay ahead of his team-mate, Pierre Gasly, in tenth place.
In the final stages, many tried to do qualifying simulations, such as George Russell, who was placed third with less than 20 minutes remaining , although waiting for what Ferrari and Red Bull could do with new sets of soft. How could it be otherwise, Max Verstappen was placed first in his fastest lap attempt, a 1:18.880 that served him to be half a second faster than the Prancing Horse cars.
Leclerc was unable to overtake the Dutchman, and was two tenths off the best time of the session, at a time when his teammate was preparing to test the classification. That was how the Spaniard took the lead with a great lap of 1:18.750 with just over 10 minutes left on the clock.
The final moments were spent riding the last few kilometers on used tires in longer runs, with only a failed attempt by Sergio Pérez being the highlight as a Haas blocked him.
Gallery: the best photos from FP1 of the Hungarian GP 2022 F1
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
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