Ferrari headed an official practice session for the first time in the 2020 F1 season as Sebastian Vettel led a very wet 90 minutes of running at the Hungaroring.
Conditions deteriorated significantly in between Friday’s two practice sessions, so much so that qualifying for the Formula 3 race had to be called off due to the amount of water on the track.Several Formula 1 drivers did not more than a handful of installation laps rather than risk damaging their cars as the third grand prix meeting in as many weekends continued. The Williams and Renault drivers were among those who decided not to set times, along with Lewis Hamilton, Alexander Albon and Kevin Magnussen.
Vettel covered 12 laps in his Ferrari – more than anyone bar Kimi Raikkonen, who missed the first practice session while Robert Kubica drove his car. Most of those who did venture out for laps locked a wheel or ran wide at some point, though impressively no one made contact with a barrier.
Vettel was among those who used a set of intermediate tyres when the conditions improved. His quickest time of 1’40.464 was well over 20 seconds off a typical dry lap time at the Hungaroring. Valtteri Bottas took second ahead of Carlos Sainz Jnr and the two Racing Point drivers.
Pierre Gasly, who did no laps in the morning practice session due to a problem with his Honda power unit, managed seven laps and was sixth. However he pitted after reporting a burning smell in his car late in the session.
A late lap by Max Verstappen, after the rain had intensified again, put the Red Bull drive seventh. Romain Grosjean, Kimi Raikkonen and the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc completed the top 10.
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| Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’40.464 | 12 | |
| 2 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’40.736 | 0.272 | 5 |
| 3 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren-Renault | 1’41.784 | 1.320 | 6 |
| 4 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’42.380 | 1.916 | 6 |
| 5 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’42.470 | 2.006 | 5 |
| 6 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1’42.588 | 2.124 | 7 |
| 7 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda | 1’42.820 | 2.356 | 4 |
| 8 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’43.335 | 2.871 | 6 |
| 9 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’43.471 | 3.007 | 16 |
| 10 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’43.725 | 3.261 | 10 |
| 11 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’44.411 | 3.947 | 9 |
| 12 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Renault | 1’46.000 | 5.536 | 5 |
| 13 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1’47.422 | 6.958 | 7 |
| 14 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | 1 | ||
| 15 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1 | ||
| 16 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1 | ||
| 17 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 2 | ||
| 18 | 63 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 2 | ||
| 19 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull-Honda | 3 | ||
| 20 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1 |
Second practice visual gaps
Sebastian Vettel – 1’40.464
+0.272 Valtteri Bottas – 1’40.736
+1.320 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’41.784
+1.916 Lance Stroll – 1’42.380
+2.006 Sergio Perez – 1’42.470
+2.124 Pierre Gasly – 1’42.588
+2.356 Max Verstappen – 1’42.820
+2.871 Romain Grosjean – 1’43.335
+3.007 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’43.471
+3.261 Charles Leclerc – 1’43.725
+3.947 Antonio Giovinazzi – 1’44.411
+5.536 Lando Norris – 1’46.000
+6.958 Daniil Kvyat – 1’47.422
Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.
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2020 Hungarian Grand Prix
- ‘Driver aids’ rule Haas broke with Hungary pit calls to be reviewed
- Ferrari did not sacrifice Vettel to help Leclerc – Binotto
- Di Resta to serve as McLaren’s ‘standby driver’ for Silverstone
- Pirelli: 2020 tyres teams rejected would have coped better with high Silverstone loads
- Ferrari wade into Racing Point legality row with letter to F1 and FIA
Grubschumi
17th July 2020, 15:56
Only cos he has the fastest car :)
sumedh
17th July 2020, 16:10
He’s re-discovered his mojo. Must have signed for AM
@HoHum (@hohum)
17th July 2020, 21:46
@sumedh, I’d suggest he’s motivated to try harder to showcase his skills so as to attract a new employer.
JackySteeg (@jackysteeg)
17th July 2020, 16:32
A wet qualifying will certainly be interesting this week considering the race day forecast looks to be similarly stormy. Most drivers used up their whole weekends full wet tyre allocation in the last quali, how will they ration them if they will be needed in the race?
Really not surprised nobody was bothering this afternoon.
olivier (@olivier)
17th July 2020, 16:37
Bottas, Vettel is faster than you
DAllein (@)
17th July 2020, 16:38
He dominated :D
Jeorge
17th July 2020, 18:23
Don’t do it, don’t give me hope
mystic one (@mysticus)
18th July 2020, 1:12
I think vettel did a multi 21 against the ferrari fia agreement :)
stjs16 (@stjs16)
18th July 2020, 6:33
somebody has a new job!