Hungarian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1: Sainz ahead of Verstappen, the rear wing of Aston Martin intrigues

The heat is on today for Free Practice 1. At 2 pm, with 34°C on the track and 55°C on the tarmac, the conditions will by far be the best of the weekend. Rain is indeed expected as early as tomorrow and would also be present for the race a few hours before the start.

All the drivers quickly went out on the track. The objective is therefore to accumulate as much information as possible today, in dry weather, with the maximum amount of track time for the drivers.

Robert Kubica is the only non-regular driver to drive during Free Practice 1. He is taking Bottas’ place at Alfa Romeo. The Polish driver is not far from home and brings a significant budget to Alfa Romeo, which has negotiated several Free Practice 1 sessions in exchange for his budget. Kubica is also expected to replace Zhou at Interlagos on Friday.

Verstappen is the first driver to set a fast time of 1:21.235, however, the first fast lap is set by Sainz after 9 minutes in 1:20.696. We are still far from the qualifying times from last year, which were set at 1:15.419 by Hamilton. Performance forecasts predict a pole time of 1:16.300.

After 5 minutes of attempts, Lance Stroll slightly obstructs Alonso coming out of the corner. The two drivers are on the verge of colliding. Stroll seemed to want to let Alonso pass, but the two men didn’t understand each other.

The first testing session is conducive to aerodynamic tests. This is particularly the case for Perez’s Red Bull and Norris’ McLaren, equipped with sensors and Pitot probes.

Some new features tested

Alfa Romeo is coming with a modified front wing, featuring an appendage in the middle of the fins. Aston Martin is also arriving with a new rear wing that raises questions about its legality. Indeed, the horizontal pillars are supposed to be rounded and join the horizontal wing. Here, the vertical pillars rise higher than the horizontal wings. Therefore, the design philosophy for 2022 would not be respected. However, the technical regulations are being followed. The FIA has not yet made a statement on the matter, and Aston Martin has not communicated its intention to use it in the race.

Verstappen and Hamilton tried to find the limits of the track very quickly, maybe a bit too quickly. Verstappen went off, hitting the undertray and generating a lot of sparks and likely some damage. Hamilton, on his part, had to widen his line at turn 12 to avoid riding over the kerb and locking his tires. Yuki Tsunoda also went off track at the first corner.

Verstappen, with 16 minutes left in the session, is the first driver to go under 1m 19s.

With 10 minutes left in the session, it was Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin who had a scare. The Canadian driver went over the high curbs at turn 11. He hit the underbody multiple times and even got all four wheels off the ground. It was a big impact for the driver and the Aston Martin. Alonso also took a wider line at turn 11 to avoid losing grip.

Sainz sets the fastest time in 1:18.750 with 4 minutes remaining in the session and no one will improve thereafter. Verstappen is very close, just 130 milliseconds behind the Ferrari driver. Charles Leclerc sets the third fastest time of the session. All the fastest times were done on soft tyres.

Norris is ahead of Russell in 4th place. Perez sets the 6th fastest time with the best first sector, and Hamilton is 7th. Daniel Ricciardo in 8th place is already over a second off the pace. Both Alpines round off the top 10. It is worth noting the impressive performance of the Aston Martins, 11th and 12th with the new rear wing being tested.

The result of Free Practice 1 for the Hungarian Grand Prix of F1 2022: