2013 HUNGARIAN GP: FRIDAY RESULTS

A hot morning in Hungary saw Sebastian Vettel finish FP1 at the top of the timesheets. The Red Bull Racing driver completed a lap of 1:22.723 in the last half-hour of the session. It left him two-tenths clear of team-mate Mark Webber, who moments earlier had posted a time of 1:22.982.

The session got off to a slow start. With last week’s Silverstone test having been dominated by run programmes designed by Pirelli, this morning was the first opportunity for race drivers to use the new tyres with a set-up of their choosing. But the desire to get out on track was tempered by the prospect of a very green surface. On their installation laps a number of drivers reported it to be very dusty, a fact reinforced during the session by the number of cars that ran wide, with floors and rear bodywork sections being damaged in the process.

With that in mind it was perhaps to be expected that nobody wanted to be responsible for sweeping the track. The duty fell to Rodolfo González, however. The Venezuelan was the only substitute driver on show, standing in for Max Chilton at Marussia and his was the only car to set a time in the first half-hour, with a best lap of 1:37.942.

Shortly after the half-hour mark more cars emerged and the times fell dramatically. Rosberg was the first man under 1m30, after which the leaderboard went into freefall, with Pérez, Räikkönen, Alonso, Grosjean, Button and Webber all taking turns at the top before Vettel went quickest of all with 19 minutes left on the clock.

The session passed off largely without incident, though Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne had a late spin and Kimi Räikkönen toured back to the pits in the final minutes with a slow puncture.

FIRST PRACTICE

P.     Driver             Team          Time       Gap    Laps
 1. Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull       1:22.723            19
 2. Mark Webber          Red Bull       1:22.982  + 0.259   24
 3. Kimi Räikkönen       Lotus          1:23.010  + 0.287   20
 4. Fernando Alonso      Ferrari        1:23.099  + 0.376   22
 5. Romain Grosjean      Lotus          1:23.111  + 0.388   20
 6. Jenson Button        McLaren        1:23.370  + 0.647   26
 7. Adrian Sutil         Force India    1:23.390  + 0.667   20
 8. Nico Rosberg         Mercedes AMG   1:23.531  + 0.808   28
 9. Sergio Pérez         McLaren        1:23.591  + 0.868   26
10. Pastor Maldonado     Williams       1:23.911  + 1.188   21
11. Esteban Gutiérrez    Sauber         1:24.119  + 1.396   21
12. Valtteri Bottas      Williams       1:24.150  + 1.427   27
13. Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes       1:24.157  + 1.434   28
14. Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso     1:24.204  + 1.481   15
15. Felipe Massa         Ferrari        1:24.299  + 1.576   19
16. Nico Hülkenberg      Sauber         1:24.314  + 1.591   23
17. Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso     1:24.383  + 1.660   24
18. Paul di Resta        Force India    1:24.608  + 1.885   21
19. Charles Pic          Caterham       1:25.827  + 3.104   24
20. Giedo van der Garde  Caterham       1:26.808  + 4.085   25
21. Jules Bianchi        Marussia       1:27.617  + 4.894   20
22. Rodolfo Gonzalez     Marussia       1:28.927  + 6.204   25

Having been fastest in FP1, Red Bull Racing continued that form into the afternoon with Sebastian Vettel again going quickest, though this time by a much smaller margin over team-mate Mark Webber. Romain Grosjean was third fastest for Lotus, ahead of the Ferrari’s of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. Behind them the Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were sixth and seventh, Kimi Räikkönen was eighth quickest in the second Lotus. Jenson Button was ninth for McLaren and Adrian Sutil rounded out the top-ten for Force India.

SECOND PRACTICE

P.     Driver             Team          Time       Gap    Laps
 1. Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull       1:21.264            34
 2. Mark Webber          Red Bull       1:21.308  + 0.044   42
 3. Romain Grosjean      Lotus          1:21.417  + 0.153   40
 4. Fernando Alonso      Ferrari        1:21.426  + 0.162   34
 5. Felipe Massa         Ferrari        1:21.544  + 0.280   37
 6. Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes AMG   1:21.802  + 0.538   42
 7. Nico Rosberg         Mercedes AMG   1:21.991  + 0.727   40
 8. Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus          1:22.011  + 0.747   32
 9. Jenson Button        McLaren        1:22.180  + 0.916   41
10. Adrian Sutil         Force India    1:22.304  + 1.040   41
11. Paul di Resta        Force India    1:22.526  + 1.262   39
12. Sergio Perez         McLaren        1:22.529  + 1.265   37
13. Pastor Maldonado     Williams       1:22.781  + 1.517   36
14. Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber         1:22.837  + 1.573   42
15. Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber         1:22.841  + 1.577   39
16. Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso     1:23.369  + 2.105   34
17. Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso     1:23.411  + 2.147   41
18. Valtteri Bottas      Williams       1:23.646  + 2.382   34
19. Charles Pic          Caterham       1:24.325  + 3.061   38
20. Giedo van der Garde  Caterham       1:25.065  + 3.801   36
21. Jules Bianchi        Marussia       1:25.143  + 3.879   39
22. Max Chilton          Marussia       1:26.647  + 5.383   33