Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz led the way during the opening practice session for Formula 1’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Sainz moved to the front with a time of 1:18.713s on Soft tires to top the 60-minute session, which was held in very hot and sunny conditions at the Hungaroring.
Sainz wound up with a margin of 0.276s over Max Verstappen, who sported the fast-tracked updates on the RB20, with the most visible change being the removal of the high shouldered cooling channels.
Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez was equipped with the remainder of the updates – bar the removal of the high shoulders – and finished in 11th position.
Sainz’s Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc was third-fastest, ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell, with Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu a surprise fifth.
McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri classified sixth and seventh respectively, ahead of RB’s Yuki Tsunoda.
Aston Martin split its update package, with Lance Stroll running the Silverstone-spec car en route to ninth spot, while Fernando Alonso was 13th in the upgraded AMR24.
British Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top 10 for Mercedes.
The only interruption to the session came midway through, when a minor piece of bodywork detached from Alex Albon’s Williams FW46 after he ran heavily over the exit kerb at Turn 11.
Albon, who finished the session in 14th place, was able to continue his run plan, while the Virtual Safety Car was momentarily deployed while the debris was retrieved.
Haas’ 2025 signing Oliver Bearman had his fourth of six planned FP1 runs, in place of Nico Hulkenberg, and brought up the rear of the 20-car field, a tenth of a second behind outgoing Haas racer Kevin Magnussen.
