Hamilton heads hot Hungarian FP1

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - JULY 25: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP makes a pit stop during practice ahead of the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix at Hungaroring on July 25, 2014 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - JULY 25: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP makes a pit stop during practice ahead of the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix at Hungaroring on July 25, 2014 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Published Jul 25, 2014

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Budapest, Hungary - Lewis Hamilton started his Hungarian Grand Prix weekend as he meant to continue, with the fastest lap in Friday's first free practice and championship-leading Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg behind him.

The winner of the past two Hungarian Grands Prix lapped the Hungaroring circuit outside Budapest with a best time of 1m25.814.

Rosberg was second fastest, 0.183sec slower than the 2008 champion, on a hot morning with track temperatures rising to around 48 degrees.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso were the closest to the dominant duo, who have won nine out of 10 races so far between them, with third and fourth places respectively on the timesheets.

Red Bull's quadruple champion Sebastian Vettel, who has never won in Hungary, was fifth ahead of Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen for McLaren.

Hamilton is 14 points adrift of Rosberg, despite having won five races to the German's four, but has a far better record in Hungary.

The Briton has won four times there in total, a record he shares with Germany's now retired Michael Schumacher, whereas Rosberg has yet to stand on the Hungaroring podium.

Raikkonen also has a great record at the track, which counts almost as a home race for Finnish drivers, with victory for McLaren in 2005 and second place in the past two years with Lotus.

The Finn needs a good result this weekend after being eclipsed by Alonso so far this season. Raikkonen is the only driver on the grid who has yet to beat his team mate this year.

The session opened with Max Chilton's Marussia on fire in the pits, with the flames quickly extinguished, after oil leaked onto the exhaust. - Reuters

RESULTS

1 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes - 1m25.814s

2 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes - 1:25.997

3 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari - 1:26.421

4 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari - 1:26.872

5 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull - 1:27.220

6 Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) McLaren - 1:27.357

7 Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso - 1:27.683

8 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull - 1:27.782

9 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren - 1:27.804

10 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams - 1:27.960

11 Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) Sauber - 1:27.967

12 Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force India - 1:28.101

13 Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Toro Rosso - 1:28.208

14 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Lotus - 1:28.266

15 Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams - 1:28.330

16 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India - 1:28.376

17 Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus - 1:28.593

18 Adrian Sutil (Germany) Sauber - 1:29.025

19 Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Caterham - 1:30.363

20 Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Caterham - 1:30.892

21. Max Chilton (Britain) Marussia - 1:31.004

22. Jules Bianchi (France) Marussia - 1:31.248

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