BUDAPEST – World champion Lewis Hamilton did just enough to
nudge his Mercedes ahead of Max Verstappen's Red Bull in practice for
the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix on Friday.
The Briton posted a best 1 minute 17.233 seconds around the
4.381-kilometre Hungaroring, a circuit where he has won a record six
times, in the first session of the day.
But Verstappen was only 0.165 seconds adrift and Sebastian Vettel of
Ferrari just 1 thousandth of a second further behind in third.
Verstappen won a wet German GP last weekend and Vettel moved from the
back of the grid to second as Hamilton and Mercedes had a rare off
day.
And rain again played a big role as showers made teams cautious early
in the second session before heavier rainfall saw the clock tick away
with little change on the timesheets
Pierre Gasly of Red Bull topped second practice in a modest 1:17.854
minutes with Verstappen next at 0.055 seconds and Hamilton at 0.141
seconds in third.
Hamilton still leads the standings by a comfortable 41 points from
team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who did not set a time in the first
session due to engine problems but did emerge later on.
Charles Leclerc had to settle for sixth in the other Ferrari behind
Gasly and Kevin Magnussen of Haas.
Qualifying is on Saturday for Sunday's race, the last before the
mid-season break.