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Lando Norris led a McLaren 1-2 in FP1 for the Hungarian Grand Prix, a session that featured a clear and persistent threat to the McLaren dominance and two 'new' drivers to evaluate.
Charles Leclerc was a thorn in the McLaren drivers' sides but Norris looked absolutely supreme at the top of the time sheets.
He was as much as seven tenths clear at one stage, and only a soft-tyre run from team-mate Oscar Piastri at the end of the performance running reduced the gap to 0.019s. Norris could not improve on his 1m16.052s after flat-spotting his tyres at Turn 1.
Leclerc - boosted by a podium at Spa and a chance to hone Ferrari's new suspension introduced there - repeatedly went to the top of the order and ended up within striking distance of Norris, 0.217s adrift.
Isack Hadjar - who has been told to "cheer up" by his entourage after a strong start to his rookie F1 season - set the fourth-fastest time and split the Ferraris, with Lewis Hamilton just behind.
"The car doesn’t feel good," said Hamilton, who locked up at Turn 1 and slid wide at the Turn 9 right-hander, visibly fighting the Ferrari around a lap. He was four tenths off his team-mate Leclerc.
The down-on-confidence Kimi Antonelli led George Russell - unhappy with the handling of the Mercedes, even after reverting to older-spec suspension - in seventh and eighth, with Max Verstappen down in ninth.
He was 0.888s off Norris but, with Red Bull trialling different front wing specifications, it's likely too early to rule Verstappen out of running much higher up the order later in the weekend.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda had a breakthrough in Spa qualifying last weekend with a new Red Bull floor but was uncomfortable with his car in FP1 at the Hungaroring, saying all four wheels were sliding on his late medium-tyre runs. He was only 17th on his soft-tyre run.
The rookies
Felipe Drugovich stepped in for this session at late notice in place of Fernando Alonso, with the Aston Martin driver resting a muscle injury. Paul Aron was a planned substitue for Nico Hulkenberg at Sauber.
Drugovich started strongly compared to team-mate Lance Stroll, almost eight tenths quicker on their first hard tyre runs.
But with the soft tyre bolted on, Stroll was a good three tenths clear of his rookie team-mate, ending the session 10th. A follow-up run from Drugovich produced a massive Turn 1 lock-up, although Norris, Hamilton and Carlos Sainz all had similar significant overshoots.
He and Stroll were also trialling front wing specifications after Aston Martin brought a bigger front flap for this weekend, which hurts any comparison between the two without knowing their specifications and run plans.
"Sorry about the flat spot," Drugovich said after the session. "Mega job as always," was the reply from the team as he ended up 16th.
Aron's session was cut short without a great deal of meaningful running, as he was told to pull the car over in the runoff at the Turn 13 hairpin, seemingly with an engine issue.
“Sorry about that Paul,” Aron, who managed only nine laps, was told.
FP1 times
1 Lando Norris (McLaren) 1m16.052s
2 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.019s
3 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.217s
4 Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) +0.629s
5 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.682s
6 Ollie Bearman (Haas) +0.826s
7 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.828s
8 George Russell (Mercedes) +0.873s
9 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.888s
10 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +0.906s
11 Alex Albon (Williams) +0.932s
12 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +0.952s
13 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1.071s
14 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +1.132s
15 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +1.143s
16 Felipe Drugovich (Aston Martin) +1.217s
17 Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) +1.341s
18 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +1.412s
19 Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) +1.600s
20 Paul Aron (Sauber) +3.736s
