Charles Leclerc topped first practice for this weekend’s Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix, but his hour’s running ended on a bad note with an undisclosed Ferrari failure in the pit lane.
The Monegasque’s fastest time placed him almost half a second up on second-placed Max Verstappen at the Hungaroring, with Lewis Hamilton planting the sister Ferrari third.
But with just over five minutes to go, the SF-26 suffered an as-of-yet-undisclosed issue, forcing Leclerc to box, but the car failed to reach it, stopping at the pit entrance, telling his team “something broke”.
📻 "Something broke"
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 24, 2026
Leclerc finished FP1 on top but his session ended early 👀#F1 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/xBGVEXDjL9
Red Bull had both cars high up, with Isack Hadjar fourth, with George Russell down in fifth. The second Mercedes of Frederik Vesti was seventh, the Dane taking the place of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, one of five rookies in the session.
The remainder of the top 10 was occupied by both Audis and Racing Bulls. With Gabriel Bortoleto sixth and Nico Hulkenberg seventh, the German outfit showed its chassis’ nous once again, and Racing Bulls’ consistency in the midfield seemed to tell once again, with Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson ninth and 10th.
For Aston Martin, there were reasons to feel both positive and negative, with a suspected left-rear suspension issue. The Canadian spun at Turn 3, miraculously bringing the AMR26 under control, avoiding a trip to the barriers, which would have had disastrous consequences for the B-spec car, complete with 16 upgrades, which makes its debut this weekend.
Fernando Alonso could have had cause for tentative optimism, ending the session in 13th place, a comparatively high position for the Silverstone-based team this season.
The next highest-placed rookie was the McLaren of Leonardo Fornaroli, who ended 16th, with Ryo Hirakawa 17th in the Haas. Paul Aron was 19th for Alpine, with Colton Herta putting his Cadillac 19th.
READ MORE – F1 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix – FP1 Results
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