Ferrari dominate Hungarian Grand Prix practice with Mercedes off the pace once again

• Hamilton backs Verstappen to cruise to title

• Vettel to retire at end of the season

• Comment: Vettel was the principled but petulant star

• Follow live coverage of F1 Hungarian Grand Prix

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished fastest in second practice for this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Monegasque driver was 0.217sec ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and 0.231sec ahead of team-mate Carlos Sainz. Championship leader Max Verstappen was fourth, within a tenth of a second of Sainz, albeit with limited running on the quicker soft compound tyre.

Even near-perfection from here until the end of the season may not be enough for Leclerc to take the drivers’ title. He trails defending champion Verstappen by 63 points after a nightmare race in France last week where he crashed from the lead. With 10 rounds to go including the race this weekend, the Ferrari driver could theoretically win every round and still not take the drivers’ title.

Mercedes, who have experienced up-and-down progress in the past month, had another difficult session, with George Russell in eighth, nine-tenths down from Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in 11th, 1.1sec off the pace.

Last weekend at Paul Ricard the defending constructors’ champions scored their best result of the season with a double podium, as Hamilton finished second and Russell third. Yet their recent progress has been nothing if not lumpy and their one-lap pace at the Hungaroring on Friday was concerning.

"The car was a bit of a struggle today. It is crazy how it swings so much from track to track," Hamilton said after the session.

"I have to keep my head up and we have to figure out how to get the car working. At the moment it is a bit loose and not doing what we want it to do, so it was a difficult day."

On Sundays, at least, the W13 has tended to be stronger and that will again need to be the case here if they are to keep the pressure up on Ferrari for second in the constructors’ championship. This bumpy and slow track, however, was not expected to suit their car.

It was an especially encouraging afternoon for McLaren. As well as Norris in second, Daniel Ricciardo finished fifth, a further two-tenths back from his team-mate.

With the Alpine of Fernando Alonso and the Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel - who announced his retirement at the end of 2022 on Thursday - also ahead of Russell and Hamilton, this makes the Silver Arrows the sixth quickest team on raw pace on Friday’s running.

Early in the second session Hamilton asked for his gap to the leaders. “P8, 1.9 to Leclerc in P1,” he was told by his race engineer.  “1.9 to the same tyre?” he replied quizzically.

Russell too sounded baffled during the session. “What the hell is going on in turn one? Can’t get round the corner without locking,” the Englishman said.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who is in a poor run of form, and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas rounded off the top 10 in ninth and 10th.

Earlier in the day, Sainz finished the first practice session quickest, 0.130sec ahead of Verstappen, with Leclerc in third, around three-tenths off the pace.

The running order may, however, be thrown out of the window with a high chance of thunderstorms predicted throughout Saturday when qualifying takes place.

Hungarian Grand Prix practice: As it happened

05:11 PM

Thanks for joining me

That is it for our coverage of FP2. Ferrari are looking strong, having the fastest times in both FP1 and FP2, but with the rain tomorrow, who knows what will happen in qualifying.

05:09 PM

FP2 Classification

Here is how they look at the end of the second practice.

1. LEC 1:18.455

2. NOR +0.217

3. SAI +0.231

4. VER +0.283

5. RIC +0.427

6. ALO +0.604

7. VET +0.808

8. RUS +0.910

9. PER +0.952

10. BOT +0.966

11. HAM +1.102

12. ZHO +1.160

13. OCO +1.169

14. STR +1.257

15. GAS +1.285

16. MAG +1.373

17. MSC +1.540

18. LAT +2.043

19. TSU +2.076

20. ALB +2.170

05:03 PM

FP2 ends - Leclerc fastest

Leclerc finishes fastest, just over two tenths of a second fastest than Norris, who is closely followed by Sainz and Verstappen.

04:58 PM

FP2 - Five minutes left

This has not been the fastest session, something demonstrated by the fact that no one has improved on the times set by Leclerc and Norris almost 30 minutes ago.

Now it's Leclerc's turn to run wide on turn four. With rain forecasted tomorrow, that corner is going to be very testing in qualifying.

04:55 PM

FP2 - Tricky turn 4

Verstappen and complaining about the amount his car was shaking through turn 4. That corner then wrecks havoc on Hamilton, who runs wide.

04:52 PM

FP2 - Ten minutes to go

Leclerc still leads, followed by Norris and Sainz.

04:50 PM

FP2 - Leclerc has a scare

Ferrari have had their fair share of reliability issues this season, and for a moment it looked there was another one as Leclerc was told to return to the pits due to the team noticing a 'problem'. However, after a few minutes he returns to the track, although he hits a jack on the way out.

04:43 PM

FP2 - Mercedes struggling

The Mercedes have not been the fastest this session, with Russell in eight and Hamilton in 11th. Hamilton earlier bemoaned how much he was behind the fastest times, while Russell is really struggling with turn one, the same corner Albon went off at.

04:36 PM

FP2 - 25 mins left

McLaren are looking very strong now. Norris is briefly fastest before Leclerc regains the lead, but it is only by two tenths. Norris' teammate Ricciardo goes into fourth intially before Verstappen, who at one point was as low as 11th, pushes Ricciardo into fifth. Alonso is still looking fast in sixth, only six tenths of a second off Leclerc.

04:32 PM

FP2 - Top 12

Here's how the leaderboard looks halfway into the session.

1. LEC 1:18.445

2. NOR +0.217

3. ALO +0.387

4. VET +0.591

5. SAI +0.947

6. PER +0.952

7. HAM+1.102

8. ZHO +1.160

9. OCO +1.169

10. VER +1.209

11. LEC +0.289

12. STR +1.257

04:22 PM

FP2 - Yellow Flag

Alex Albon spun off at turn one after his rear wheels lock up, causing a yellow flag in sector one. Albon manages to turn car around and continue driving, which the crowd applauses.

04:16 PM

FP2 - staying cool by any means

In case you did not know how hot it is at the Hungaroring. 33C in the air, and well over 50C by the track. The rain forecasted tomorrow could not come soon enough for some people.

04:10 PM

FP2 - 50 mins remain

After the first laps Leclerc was leading Verstappen, with Alonso surprisingly in third. After the next round of laps however it returns to a more familiar picture at the top of the leaderboard, with the two Ferraris leading, followed by Verstappen.

04:02 PM

GREEN LIGHT: FP2 begins

The Aston Martins, like they did in FP1, head to the track first. How much will they push that new rear wing this session?

04:01 PM

FP1 - Luke Slater's report continued

Verstappen leads Charles Leclerc by 63 points heading into the final race before the summer break, having won last time around in France as his Monegasque rival crashed from the lead.

Ferrari and Leclerc face a difficult task to even take the championship into the final few rounds of the season, so large is Verstappen’s advantage.

Sebastian Vettel, who announced his retirement from F1 at the end of the current season, finished 11th for Aston Martin.

03:59 PM

FP1 - Luke Slater's report

In the first practice session Carlos Sainz was fastest, followed by Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. It was not the fastest session, with Sainz over a second slower than the fastest lap in FP1 at the Hungaroring last year.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz ended the first practice session for this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix fastest ahead of Max Verstappen.

The Dutchman and defending champion finished 0.130sec behind Sainz, with the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in third, 0.289sec off his team-mate.

Lando Norris was fourth for McLaren, just over half a second off the pace, with fellow Briton George Russell three tenths further back. Russell complained of "bottoming" at one point in the session, an issue which has affected Mercedes this season.

Sergio Perez was sixth and Lewis Hamilton was seventh, nearly a full second off the fastest time.

03:35 PM

Hello again

Second practice gets under way in around 25 minutes.

02:14 PM

We will be back for second practice at about 3.30pm UK time.

Thanks for joining me.

02:13 PM

FP1 - Classification

1. SAI 1:18.750

2. VER +0.130

3. LEC +0.289

4. NOR +0.549

5. RUS +0.856

6. PER +0.872

7. HAM+0.960

8. RIC +1.091

9. OCO +1.598

10. ALO +1.627

11. VET +1.633

12. STR +1.664

13. GAS +1.706

14. TSU +1.945

15. ZHO +2.060

16. ALB +2.084

17. MAG +2.171

18. MSC +2.277

19. KUB +2.429

20. LAT +2.663

02:03 PM

FP1 ends - Sainz fastest.

Sainz finishes fastest in FP1, ahead of Vettel by slight more than a tenth of a second. Not much changed in the last ten minutes, but Norris, who did not set a lap for the first 25 minutes, sneaks in fourth.

02:01 PM

FP1 - Aston Martin's rear wing

There's been rumours that other teams are thinking of protesting this upgrade, which leads to the question of whether Aston Martin should limit themselves today to not spark complaints.

01:57 PM

FP1 - Racing line conflict

There has been a series of issues with drives getting in the way of fast laps by staying on the racing line. Schumacher is affected by a slow-moving Leclerc, complains on the radio, then does the same to Perez. If you can't beat them...

Sainz still fastest with less than five minutes left.

01:54 PM

FP1 - Stroll hits floor

Stroll goes wide after a corner and the floor of the car makes a big hit with the track. No serious damage from it though.

01:51 PM

FP1 - Track is speeding up

We are beginning to see some faster times as this session is reaching its climax. Verstappen goes sub-1:19 to go top, which Leclerc quickly responding by being less than 2 tenths off.

Sainz then drives the fastest lap of the session with a 1:18.750. Ten minutes left in FP1.

01:45 PM

FP1 - Russell locks up

Russell is in P2 currently, but he has not been all at ease with his car so far. He was complaining about bottoming earlier, and not too long ago his rear wheels locked up while turning.

01:40 PM

FP1 - Updated Top 10

Here how it looks with 20 minutes to go in FP1

1. LEC 1:19.426

2. RUS +0.180

3. VER +0.244

4. SAI +0.245

5. HAM +0.284

6. PER +0.768

7. NOR +0.825

8. ALO +0.951

9. RIC +0.952

10. TSU +1.269

01:36 PM

FP1 - Allergies issues on track

Can you ever remember hearing someone sneeze on the team radio? That's happened to Sergio Perez today, who blamed it on allergies. The engineer was kind enough to say bless you after every one.

01:33 PM

FP1 - Norris goes seventh

As I write the previous post Norris goes out goes into seventh.

The Mercedes cars, who have been quiet so far, now enter the fray at the top. Hamilton first goes fourth, and then Russell goes second. Do they finally have the pace that they promised to have in France last week?

01:30 PM

FP1 - Norris yet to set a time

Over 25 minutes have passed in this session and Lando Norris still has not put out a lap. He went out intially, but then came back in to have aero rakes fitted behind his front wheels. His McLaren teammate Daniel Ricciardo is currently fifth after a quick start , the closest of the rest the Red Bulls and Ferraris.

01:21 PM

FP1 - Top 12 and gaps

Here's how it looks 20 minutes in.

1. SAI 1:20.184

2. LEC +0.041

3. VER +0.059

4. RIC +0.612

5. PER +0.869

6. OCO +1.345 

7. RUS +1.507

8. HAM +1.928

9. ALB +2.222

10. ALO +2.576

11. TSU +2.993

12. GAS +3.056

01:14 PM

FP1 - Leclerc leads Verstappen

That did not take long for the Championship leaders to go to the top of practice. Verstappen is less than two hundredths of a second off Leclerc. The two drivers are almost half a second quicker than Sainz.

01:08 PM

FP1 - 53 mins remain

Verstappen currently the fastest man on track early on with a 1:21.235, followed by Sainz and Ricciardo.

01:04 PM

GREEN LIGHT: FP1 begins

The Aston Martins, with their new rear wing, has come out first.

01:02 PM

Current track conditions

Air temperature: 32C

Track temperature: 56C

This weekend is very inconsistent in terms of weather, so it today's two practice sessions will not be the most informative. It will be hot and sunny today in Budapest, but tomorrow in qualifying it is forecasted to be raining heavily. While on Sunday it will be dry, the track will be cooler than today.

The teams are coming onto the track now.

12:55 PM

Vettel retiring at the end of the season

The big story on the paddock is the news around Sebastian Vettel, who announced yesterday that he will retire from F1 at the end of the season.

You can read Tom Cary's overview of his career here.

12:18 PM

Current constructor standings

12:15 PM

Current driver standings: Top 10

11:25 AM

Good afternoon

Welcome again to our coverage of the 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix from the Hungaroring in Budapest. The big news this week has been Sebastian Vettel’s announcement that he will be retiring at the end of the season.

The four-time World Champion has won two Hungarian Grand Prix in his illustrious career, but Aston Martin are having an underwhelming season, so it’s safe to say that he will probably not be saying goodbye to this track with a third win.

Someone who will be fancying their chances this weekend will be Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari driver was leading the French Grand Prix last week and was on course for back-to-back wins until he hit the barriers at lap 17. Max Verstappen took advantage of Leclerc’s mistake to win the race, extending his lead at the top of the Championship to 63 points with ten races left.

However, there are positives to take from last week for Ferrari. The speed of the car in the corners served them well, and Carlos Sainz did well to work his way from his starting position of 19th to fifth. He was third at one point in the race, but Ferrari made the decision to pit late in the race, something Sainz disagreed with at the time.

On another day, with fewer mistakes from Leclerc and better decision-making from the team, Ferrari could have potentially had two cars on the podium. But then again, if Leclerc made fewer mistakes and Ferrari had better decision-making, Verstappen and Red Bull would not be leading the Drivers’ Championship by 63 points and the Constructors Championship by 82 points.

Ferrari have another chance to close the gaps this weekend, as the twists and turns of the Hungaroring mean they should have the faster car yet again. Last year, Esteban Ocon won his first Grand Prix in a race defined by a frantic first lap. Both Leclerc and Verstappen were hit in the chaos, with the former having to retire, and the latter salvaging a point in tenth. They will both hope this year’s race is not anywhere near as exciting.