Everything that happened in Hungarian Grand Prix FP1

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen led the Mercedes duo in the opening Friday practice session of Formula 1’s Hungarian Grand Prix weekend.

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Key moments:

– Verstappen leads Bottas by 0.016s

– Perez only eighth

– Spin for Alonso, spin and crash for Tsunoda

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After Verstappen headed Valtteri Bottas by seven tenths in the opening hard-tyre runs, Mercedes was among the first teams to switch tyres during the session – with Bottas and Lewis Hamilton duly taking over in first and second place on softs right before the halfway mark.

Verstappen, however, continued for longer on the used hard rubber, and only swapped after the red flag, which had been caused by the junior AlphaTauri team’s rookie Yuki Tsunoda.

Yuki Tsunoda is off at Turn 4, and he crashes backwards into the wall

The session has been red flagged so that his car can be recovered and the barriers can be repaired#HungarianGP 🇭🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/u5KvDd7DWi

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 30, 2021

On a soft-tyre push lap, Tsunoda spun going through the fast Turn 4 left-hander and his AT02 went rear-first into the barriers, necessitating a five-minute stoppage. The Japanese driver had also spun at the Turn 9 right-hander earlier in FP1, escaping damage on that occasion.

Once the red flag was cleared, Verstappen emerged on softs and went 0.061s quicker than Bottas despite trailing the Finn over the opening two sectors. With the Mercedes pair already on long runs, that ensured the Dutchman would finish FP1 in the top spot.

Hamilton ended the session a tenth behind Bottas, having trailed by four tenths after his initial soft-tyre attempt but improving with a second go.

Carlos Sainz was best of the rest in fourth for Ferrari, he and team-mate Charles Leclerc in seventh split by AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso – who’d had a spin on exit of the same corner where Tsunoda would later crash.

Sergio Perez looked around a second off Red Bull team-mate Verstappen from run to run, and ended the session nine tenths off the pace in eighth, with Lando Norris and Lance Stroll behind him as the sole McLaren and sole Aston Martin in the top 10 respectively.

Fernando Alonso goes for a 🔄 at Turn 4

It was a high-speed spin, so he's boxed for some repairs#HungarianGP 🇭🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/tTyN11YOCt

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 30, 2021

Every driver besides Tsunoda and Antonio Giovinazzi managed 20 laps or more, and even Tsunoda himself got as many as 18 on the board before the crash. Giovinazzi, however, was limited to just five laps and ended up last in the order, two places behind reserve driver Robert Kubica, who replaced Kimi Raikkonen in FP1.

Practice 1 Results