F1 Hungarian GP FP2: Leclerc tops second practice ahead of mixed up order

Charles Leclerc topped the second practice session in Hungary after a wet-weathered FP1 disrupted proceedings earlier in the day. The second hour of running saw much better weather and allowed the teams to explore the Hungaroring on a clean track, to both test and examine any upgrades they may have brought.

As the lights went green, Alex Albon was the first driver out on track. Red Bull’s Sérgio Perez was back behind the wheel of his RB19, after crashing into the barrier in first practice; the mechanics able to fix his car just in time. The returning Daniel Ricciardo was finally able to see what his Alpha Tauri was capable of, as he hit the track on a set of medium tyres.

After 15 minutes of running, the top three consisted of Logan Sargent, Valtteri Bottas, and Lando Norris, the former on the soft tyre ahead of two medium tyre runners. World Champion Max Verstappen, teammate Perez, the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, and both Ferraris were still yet to set a lap time. After Hamilton eventually set a lap on medium tyres, he sat 13^th.

After his crash at turn 5 earlier on, Perez took good care at that same corner on his hot laps. Teammate Verstappen went faster on his lap, to go second. With 35 minutes remaining, Albon went quickest by over half a second, making it a Williams one-two and showing off some impressive pace in their car.

As the track started to grip up, lap times fell. Yuki Tsunoda went quickest by a tenth from Nico Hülkenberg, ahead of Verstappen and Lance Stroll. On the same tyre, Tsunoda was four-tenths of a second ahead of new teammate Daniel Ricciardo. The Ferraris weren’t having a particularly strong session just after the halfway point, as they sat 17^th and 18^th, but shortly after, Charles Leclerc went quickest.

Verstappen seemed to be struggling to find pace, only sitting in 11^th place on a set of soft tyres. Zhou Guanyu risked the floor of his Alfa Romeo as he rode over a kerb, whilst McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was sidelined for doing the same thing. As the session reached its conclusion, Leclerc remained top of the timings, ahead of Norris and Pierre Gasly. The two Red Bulls were 11^th and 18^th, struggling with Mercedes who were 16^th and 20^th.