Friday Report - Hamilton leads Ferrari one-two in FP2

Lewis Hamilton
© Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton topped second practice for the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix with a lap of 1m18.729s, leading a Ferrari one-two as Charles Leclerc finished second on 1m18.877s after a disrupted final run. The Scuderia looked the class of the field in difficult conditions at the Hungaroring, while Franco Colapinto's crash brought out the session's only red flag.

Friday afternoon proved considerably trickier than FP1. Cooler temperatures, gusting winds and several sections of newly resurfaced asphalt left the circuit offering very little grip, with almost every driver complaining about unpredictable handling as teams searched for a workable setup ahead of qualifying.

Ferrari adapted quickest to the changing conditions. Hamilton set the early benchmark on medium tyres before improving again, while Leclerc remained close behind throughout the opening half of the session. Max Verstappen, who eventually finished fourth with a 1m19.421s, initially held third but was unable to match Ferrari's pace.

Several leading contenders endured uncomfortable afternoons. George Russell, fifth on 1m19.662s, described the rear of his Mercedes as "dreadful", while championship leader Kimi Antonelli struggled with persistent rear locking throughout the session before eventually ending only 13th with a 1m20.693s. Leclerc also locked up his front tyres into Turn 1 on one run, while Pierre Gasly complained repeatedly that something did not feel right with his Alpine before finishing 14th on 1m20.816s.

Lando Norris briefly looked capable of challenging Ferrari after setting the fastest opening sector during one of his early runs, but the McLaren driver suffered a sizeable snap exiting the final corner and had to abandon the lap. His first representative soft-tyre effort of 1m19.228s ultimately proved good enough for third place, 0.499s behind Hamilton.

Teams switched onto the soft C5 compound around the halfway point, although Ferrari initially delayed its qualifying simulations while several rivals completed theirs. Mercedes' afternoon then took another turn for the worse when Antonelli was on a flying lap just as Alpine's Franco Colapinto lost control entering the final corner and hit the barriers. Colapinto's accident, after setting a best lap of 1m22.531s, triggered the red flags with just under half the session remaining.

Following the restart, Antonelli's next qualifying simulation ended with another dramatic slide through the Turn 6 chicane, leaving the Mercedes driver without a representative soft-tyre lap.

Ferrari finally revealed its full pace during the closing stages. Leclerc briefly moved to the top before Hamilton immediately responded with the fastest lap of the session. Leclerc's final opportunity to reclaim first place disappeared when he encountered Russell on circuit, preventing him from completing a clean final flying lap.

Behind the Ferrari pair, Norris headed Verstappen and Russell, while Isack Hadjar continued his impressive form in sixth with a 1m19.800s. Liam Lawson was seventh on 1m20.041s, ahead of Oscar Piastri (1m20.101s), Nico Hulkenberg (1m20.125s) and Arvid Lindblad (1m20.253s), completing the top 10.

Gabriel Bortoleto finished 11th with a 1m20.474s, ahead of Haas driver Esteban Ocon on 1m20.557s. Oliver Bearman (1m20.950s) finished 15th, followed by Alex Albon (1m20.973s), Carlos Sainz (1m21.426s), Valtteri Bottas (1m21.442s), Fernando Alonso (1m21.719s) and Sergio Perez (1m21.792s). Lance Stroll did not participate after the rear suspension failure that ended his FP1 prematurely.