Lewis leads on hot Friday in Hungary

Mercedes Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain drives during the first practice session of the Hungarian F1 Grand Prix at the Hungaroring circuit, near Budapest, July 25, 2014. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo (HUNGARY - Tags: SPORT MOTORSPORT F1)

Mercedes Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain drives during the first practice session of the Hungarian F1 Grand Prix at the Hungaroring circuit, near Budapest, July 25, 2014. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo (HUNGARY - Tags: SPORT MOTORSPORT F1)

Published Jul 25, 2014

Share

Budapest, Hungarian - Lewis Hamilton started his Hungarian Grand Prix weekend as he intended to continue, leading both of Friday's free practice sessions with championship-leading Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg behind.

The winner of the past two Hungarian Grands Prix lapped the Hungaroring circuit outside Budapest with a best time of 1min 5.814 in the morning and 1:24.482 in the afternoon.

Rosberg was second fastest in both, 0.183 and 0.238 sec slower than Hamilton with track temperatures rising to a sweltering 55 degrees Celsius after lunch.

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, in the morning with third and fourth places respectively on the timesheets.

However Red Bull's quadruple champion Sebastian Vettel, who has never won in Hungary, was third fastest in the second practice with Alonso fourth.

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.

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

There was less drama in the second, other than a few harmless spins and slides.

Hamilton could be heard enquiring over the team radio, however, whether there was something wrong with his car's front brakes - a worrying sign after a front brake disc failure pitched him out of qualifying in Germany last weekend.

The Briton had to battle back in that race from 20th on the grid to third, with Rosberg winning. - Reuters

RESULTS (Second Session)

1 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes - 1:24.482

2 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes - 1:24.720

3 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) RedBull - 1:25.111

4 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari - 1:25.437

5 Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) McLaren - 1:25.580

6 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari - 1:25.730

7 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull - 1:25.983

8 Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams - 1:25.999

9 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren - 1:26.234

10 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams - 1:26.402

11 Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Toro Rosso - 1:26.689

12 Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso - 1:26.703

13 Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force India - 1:26.789

14 Adrian Sutil (Germany) Sauber - 1:26.919

15 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India - 1:27.013

16 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Lotus - 1:27.019

17 Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus - 1:27.021

18 Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) Sauber - 1:27.480

19 Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Caterham - 1:28.370

20 Jules Bianchi (France) Marussia - 1:28.469

21 Max Chilton (Britain) Marussia - 1:28.586

22 Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Caterham - 1:29.036

RESULTS (First Session)

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

Related Topics: