F1 Hungarian GP: Sainz tops first practice ahead of Verstappen
29th July 2022Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz topped the first practice session, in Hungary, ahead of the current championship leader Max Verstappen, Red Bull.
How first practice unfolded…
Prior to the pit exit light going green, both Aston Martin’s were at the head of the pit exit with the – now – outgoing Sebastian Vettel at the head of the queue. Naturally, as the Aston Martin’s were the first cars out onto the Hungaroring, the Aston’s were the first to secure the first set of lap times.
With horrible weather predicted on Saturday, track time was vital for the Aston’s as they conducted data-gathering runs after they introduced their brand new rear wings.
However, this new rear wing spurred on disapproval amongst some teams in the paddock as it is rumoured to be outside the ‘spirit’ of the regulations.
After five minutes, 14 drivers had set a lap time on the board. As per usual, Verstappen was at the top of the timing board with a 1:21.235, on the soft compound tyres, 0.143 seconds ahead of Sainz. However, as the session crept closer to the nine-minute mark, Sainz set the fastest lap with a 1:20.696, which was half-a-second quicker than the Dutch Red Bull driver.
But, this time was soon beaten by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who jumped to the top of the timing sheets with a 1:20.225.
As the season rolled into its final 20 minutes, Leclerc remained out on top of the leaderboard with an improved time of 1:19.426, as Mercedes’ George Russell climbed up to P2 on the soft tyre runs, ahead of Verstappen in P3.
But, it wasn’t long until Verstappen improved his time to top the timing board, 0.159 seconds faster than Leclerc who quickly improved his time.
After a preparation lap, Sainz put in a blistering lap to go fastest overall with a 1:18.750 as the track evolution allowed the cars to continuously set quicker lap times. This time was 0.13 seconds quicker than Verstappen’s fastest time.
Top three:
- Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull
- Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
That’s it for the article: F1 Hungarian GP: Sainz tops opening session ahead of Verstappen!
Read more Formula 1 here!
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- F1 French GP: Sainz helps Leclerc to pole positon
- F1 French GP: Max Verstappen tops final practice with ease
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
