Charles Leclerc was back at the top of the timesheet after a dramatic ending to FP1 at the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix
While Leclerc topped the session, an unknown issue left him out of the final ten minutes. Ferrari’s up[graded proved crucial as Lewis Hamilton finished the session in third behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Rookie Filled Practice
Formula 1 was back and this time there were five rookies taking part in FP1. Paul Aron was again stepping in for Alpine, while 2025 F2 Champion Leonardo Fornaroli jumped in Piastri’s McLaren. Fred Vesti was back in Mercedes, taking over for Kimi Antonelli after his dominant weekend in Belgium. Colton Herta jumped back in for the American team, taking over Bottas’ Cadillac. Lastly, Ryo Hirakawa was back for the second time this season with Haas.
With the green lights out at Hungaroring, it was Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and George Russell who traded times for the top of the timesheet. After ten minutes, Fornaroli edged out Lando Norris by half a second as the McLaren Reserve Driver stepped up for his second practice with the team.
Lewis Hamilton was next to join the party. After a strong run from Ferrari in the last few races, Hamilton made the jump to second, three tenths behind his teammate. While at the back of the field, Isack Hadjar was in and out of the garage down in 21st.
Purple Sectors and Red Flags
As the times continued to trickle down, it was Ferrari who were over half a second clear of the field. Behind, Audi was also making a string showing in fifth and seventh respectively. While most of the field pulled into the pits, Russell and Norris continued to better themselves. Each setting purple sectors, it was Russell who jumped to the top of the timesheet.
After a fairly clean start to FP1, the first incident came from Lance Stroll who suffered a suspension failure with 23 minutes to go. The Aston Martin driver will be looking for more runnings in FP2 after the team brought 16 upgrades to Hungary. This incident occurred at a perfect time for Russell who had many bald spots of his tyres after late braking minutes earlier.
With 16 minutes left, the Pit Lane was open and the field tricked out to complete more flying laps. Leclerc and Verstappen traded places. Further back, Carlos Sainz locked up into Turn 1 bringing out the second yellow flag of the session. While he was able to quickly restart, the Williams driver will be looking for more stability heading to the rest of the weekend after he was noted for erratic driving at Turn 9.
Leclerc Out but On Top
With seven and a half minutes remaining, it was leclerc who was next to pull into the pits. Stopping at the start of the pitman, he was forced to abort his Ferrari claiming something was broken. With the team quick to get the car back to the garage, Leclerc was sitting 0.484s clear of the field with a 1:19.075.
With only minutes remaining in FP1, it was Verstappen and Hamilton who attempted to top the Monegasque. While his session came to an abrupt stop, Leclerc and his team will be happy with the results as it proves the improvements to Ferrari’s Macarena wing have given them the boost they need to catch Mercedes.
After early trouble, Hadjar was up to fourth ahead of Russell. Audi continued their early charge with Gabriel Bortoleto outpacing Nico Hulkenburg for six and eighth. Vesti continued to impress as the top performing rookie in seventh, only four tenths behind Russell. Both Racing Bulls were also back the top ten, outpacing Norris who sits in 11th.
Following Vesti, Fornaroli was the next best Rookie down in 16th. The McLaren driver edged out Hirakawa and Aron, while Herta, who will be back in action for Formula 2 this weekend, finished the session down in 20th.
Formula 1 will return later this afternoon for Free Practice 2 at 5pm local time, before the Grand Prix on Sunday at 3pm GMT-2.
Feature Image Credit: Formula 1