Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo set the quickest time during the opening practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix, coming close to the all-time record at the Hungaroring.
Ricciardo surged to the front of the timesheets in warm conditions on Friday morning, clocking a time of 1:18.486, just 0.050s down on the quickest ever lap at the venue.
Ricciardo, whose best time came on Supersofts, finished 0.234s clear of Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton third quickest.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed fourth, in front of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and title leader Sebastian Vettel, who spun at Turn 9 early in the session.
McLaren-Honda led the midfield charge at a circuit expected to suit its package, with Fernando Alonso 0.018s ahead of team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne, the pair 1.5s off the ultimate pace.
Renault rounded out the top 10, Nico Hülkenberg in front of Jolyon Palmer, though the Briton brought proceedings to a halt in the final minute after going wide through Turn 4.
Palmer’s front wing collapsed as he drove across the aggressive exit kerb, littering debris across the circuit, and race control opted to red-flag the session, with just a minute left on the clock.
Felipe Massa modelled a triple T-wing on the Williams FW40 en route to 11th position, ahead of Sergio Pérez and Toro Rosso pair Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz Jr.
Lance Stroll was 15th, with Romain Grosjean surviving a spin through Turn 9 to take 16th, though Haas stablemate Antonio Giovinazzi was less fortunate, as he crashed out of the session.
Giovinazzi, running on the Soft tyres, lost control of his VF-17 on the entry to the fast right-hander at Turn 11 and spun into the barriers, sustaining heavy damage to the front-left of the car.
The session was halted in order for Giovinazzi’s wreckage to be recovered.
Another Friday driver, Force India’s Alfonso Celis Jr., was 17th quickest, while Giovinazzi’s benchmark time was still sufficient to ensure he split the Sauber pair, with Marcus Ericsson 18th and Pascal Wehrlein 20th.
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