
Budapest - Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton set the pace in first Hungarian Grand Prix practice on Friday while a power unit problem forced Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas to sit out the session.
Hamilton had said he could not wait to be back in the car after recovering from a bug that laid him low in Germany last weekend and he wasted no time in getting back up to speed.
The Briton, who has won in Hungary a record six times and has a 41-point lead over Bottas in the standings, lapped the Hungaroring with a best time of one minute 17.233 seconds under cloudy skies.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen was second on the timesheets, 0.165 slower, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel occupying the third place and only a thousandth of a second behind the 21-year-old Dutchman.
Verstappen, who spun twice in the session, has won two of the last three races, including the chaotic wet thriller at Hockenheim.