Dry, then, wet, weather conditions made Friday’s practice sessions seem like they were run on different days. Lewis Hamilton ran dry, while Pierre Gasly ran wet.
BUDAPEST, Hungary—August 2nd—Just when it looked like Lewis Hamilton was going to dominate Friday’s practice at the Hungaroring in preparation for Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix, a reminder of the last race popped up in the afternoon. Rain showers gave the two Red Bulls of Pierre Gasly and Max Verstappen a 1-2 finish with the Frenchman clocking a 1:17:854 fastest lap. But better conditions of the earlier session enabled Hamilton to take the fastest time of the day with a 1:17:233.
If Friday’s practice sessions said anything, it’s this: changeable weather conditions are going to be a challenge during Saturday qualifying.
Hamilton took third in the afternoon, followed by Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas. And while there might not have been a slick dragstrip to run over (like last Sunday’s race in Germany), Alexander Albon began Friday’s second session spinning his Toro Rosso out at turn 14 and into the barriers. The Thai-born Briton touched his left rear wheel on the wet grass and slid sideways. After striking the barriers, he came to a stop just beyond the run-off area. The session was red-flagged briefly before the drivers could resume the session.
But only 20 minutes into the session, drivers realized that their set-ups were not going to go well as well as they had expected. Heavier rain began to fall, causing most of the drivers to return to the pits and find another strategy. Many drivers turned to the track with only a half-hour left in the session–this time with intermediate tires. At least that gave them a chance to exercise the use of this type of tire. All the teams switched to wet weather set-ups, and that could come in handy for Saturday qualifying.
The weather might have helped Daniel Ricciardo in his Renault. The Australian finished 5th best with Kimi Raikkonen in his Alfa Romeo right behind him in sixth. Charles Leclerc was nowhere in his Ferrari, taking seventh fastest, with another Renault of Nico Hulkenberg finishing in eighth. Another second team car in the top ten–this time another Alfa of Antonio Giovinazzi–took ninth with Toro Rosso’s Dani Kvyat in tenth.
Sebastian Vettel was like his teammate, Leclerc, disappointing as the best he could do was 13th. The two American Haas F1 Team drivers of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, took 11th and 12th, respectively.
History tells us that this Grand Prix has had only one wet race, won by Jenson Button in his first win for Honda back in 2008. However, with rain in the forecast–and what happened last week in Germany fresh in everyone’s mind–things could be very interesting for fans and drivers alike.
