Russell leads free practice at the Formula 1 Hungarian GP

Posted On: July 22, 2023

The Hungarian Formula 1 GP started in turmoil this Friday (21). In the rain, the first free practice at the Hungaroring circuit featured pirouettes on the track, a car on the protective wall and red flags. Englishman George Russell of Mercedes dodged the obstacles and ended up setting the best time of the session.

Russell led the practice with a time of 1min38s795. Behind him, the surprising Australian Oscar Piastri, McLaren, with 1min39s154. Canadian Lance Stroll of Aston Martin was third fastest, clocking 1:40.013. The best drivers on the grid failed to set a time.

The session was marked by mistakes and difficulties imposed by the rain, which started to fall after 10 minutes of training. Before that, Sergio Pérez had already made the first big mistake of the session. And just at a bad time in his career. Under strong pressure, the Mexican made a mistake by taking a curve, spun alone on the track and stopped at the protective wall.

His Red Bull suffered extensive damage, mainly to the front wing. But without major risks for the pilot. Pérez drops in performance in the final stages, increasingly in the shadow of Dutchman Max Verstappen, his teammate, who is closing in on his third championship.

The pressure is mounting on the Mexican as Red Bull has already shown dissatisfaction with his performance and has again shown that he has no problem changing his drivers, even during the championship. That’s exactly what happened to Nyck de Vries of AlphaTauri, a team that also belongs to Red Bull. He was swapped for Australian Daniel Ricciardo from this weekend.

And, depending on Ricciardo’s return to F1, he himself could threaten Pérez’s job. On his return to the category, the Australian driver only managed to complete seven laps on the Hungarian track and did not register a fast lap.

Another to return was Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr. who hit the wall alone and also caused a red flag, as did Pérez. His Ferrari suffered less damage than his rival’s Red Bull. In addition to them, Englishman Lewis Hamilton, Verstappen and Frenchmen Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly did not register fast laps.

The drivers return to the track at noon, Brasilia time, for the second free session. On Saturday, the third practice will take place at 7:30 a.m. The qualifying session is scheduled for 11 a.m. And, on Sunday, the start will be given at 10 am.