
Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas emerged fastest from Lewis Hamilton upon conclusion of Friday Practice for 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Bottas emerged fastest after FP2 after finishing 0.061 seconds off Max Verstappen in FP1 as the Finnish driver enjoyed his strongest start to a race weekend this season, as questions continue to surround his Mercedes future.
Hamilton meanwhile played second fiddle to Bottas in both sessions but was only 0.027s off his teammate come end of FP2 as Verstappen settled for third just under 24 hours since Red Bull’s appeal concerning the Dutchman’s British GP collision with Hamilton was rejected.
Now here is a full roundup of Friday Practice for 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix.
FP1
Several drivers opted to conduct early running with Verstappen going quickest in the opening ten minutes with 1m 19.725, before lowering his benchmark to 1m 19.366 as Fernando Alonso recovered from a sideways spin at Turn Five just 15 minutes into the session.
Verstappen shortly afterwards further lowered his benchmark to 1m 19.025 as Yuki Tsunoda had a spin at Turn Five, before several drivers opted for an early soft tyre qualifying simulation with Bottas emerging quickest from Hamilton before Tsunoda brought out the red flags with just under 20 minutes left.
The young AlphaTauri driver had lost the rear-end of his car at Turn Four and slid backwards into the barriers to cause a seven minute red flag, with Verstappen thereafter opting for a soft tyre qualifying simulation which proved enough to top the session with 1m 17.555.
Bottas consequently had to settle for second ahead of Hamilton, Carlos Sainz, Pierre Gasly, Alonso, Charles Leclerc, Sergio Perez, Lando Norris and Lance Stroll.
Position | Driver | Team | Time |
1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 17.555 |
2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | + 0.061 |
3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.167 |
4 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.560 |
5 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | + 0.626 |
6 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | + 0.830 |
7 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.836 |
8 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.911 |
9 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.094 |
10 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.200 |
11 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 1.210 |
12 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 1.215 |
13 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | + 1.434 |
14 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | + 1.710 |
15 | George Russell | Williams | + 2.169 |
16 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | + 2.269 |
17 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | + 2.828 |
18 | Robert Kubica | Alfa Romeo | + 3.028 |
19 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | + 3.437 |
20 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | + 4.334 |
FP2
In a busy start to session, several drivers opted to head out on mediums with Leclerc setting the initial pace with 1m 19.654 but times quickly began to tumble throughout opening runs, as Bottas found himself sat top from Verstappen and Hamilton.
Attention mid-session switched to qualifying simulations with Bottas emerging fastest overall of not just FP2 but Friday overall, posting a 1m 17.012 which was 0.027s quicker than Hamilton as Verstappen finished third quickest after suffering understeer on his soft tyre lap.
Ocon, Perez, Gasly, Alonso, Vettel, Norris and Stroll rounded out the top ten at the checkered flag after everyone enjoyed uninterrupted race simulations, whilst Tsunoda only made it out on track for the final two minutes following major repair work to his AlphaTauri and managed to finish 17th quickest.
Position | Driver | Team | Time |
1 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1m 17.012 |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.027 |
3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.298 |
4 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.747 |
5 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.812 |
6 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | + 1.101 |
7 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | + 1.157 |
8 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | + 1.216 |
9 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.301 |
10 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.308 |
11 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 1.358 |
12 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 1.429 |
13 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | + 1.725 |
14 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | + 2.265 |
15 | George Russell | Williams | + 2.280 |
16 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | + 2.467 |
17 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 2.659 |
18 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | + 2.805 |
19 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | + 3.174 |
20 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | + 4.869 |
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