No time set by Max in a rain-soaked FP1 in Hungary

Published on 21 July 2023 by Misha van der Kroon

Max Verstappen was unable to set a time during the first free practice session leading up to the Hungarian Grand Prix and ended the session in P19. At the 4,381 meter long Hungaroring, George Russell set the fastest time in his Mercedes, ahead of the McLaren of Oscar Piastri in P2. Lance Stroll was third fastest in his Aston Martin. Lando Norris set the fourth time in his McLaren, and Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin completed the top five. Max’ teammate at Oracle Red Bull Racing, Sergio Perez, crashed his RB19 after three minutes, with which his session came to an early end.

Before the start of the first practice session, all eyes are on AlphaTauri, and in particular on Daniel Ricciardo. After ten GPs, the cheerful Australian replaces Nyck de Vries, and the question will mainly be what he can do in his comeback in F1.

Furthermore, this weekend there will be a change in the set-up of the qualifying session: in Q1 the teams can only use the hard tyre, in Q2 the mediums and in Q3 the soft tyres. Usually each driver has 13 sets of tyres at their disposal: 2 sets of hards, 3 sets of mediums and 8 sets of softs. But this weekend they are limited to only 11 sets: 3 sets of hards, 4 sets of mediums and 4 sets of softs.

It is 25 degrees with a track temperature of 35 degrees when the light at the end of the pitlane in Hungary turns green. It is dry for now, but according to the FIA there is a 80% chance of rain during FP1. It immediately is busy on the track, and after just a few minutes Perez causes a red flag. The Mexican hits the grass when braking into turn five and heavily damages his RB19, which has a lot of updates. Of course, this crash won’t help the team to evaluate the success of these updates later.

After a few minutes the track is cleared and we see the people in the stands grab their coats as rain starts to fall down. Max went out on a set of mediums, but returns straight to the pits. The rest of the field also returns to their garages. And fifteen minutes into the session, nobody is out on the track.

With 40 minutes to go, Lewis Hamilton goes out on track on a set of mediums. After just one lap, the Brit goes back into the pits and it’s quiet again on track. That silence is then broken by Esteban Ocon’s Alpine appearing on track. But he too gives up after one lap and returns to his team. Moments later, Carlos Sainz, Alexander Albon and Charles Leclerc go out to give it a try, but all three quickly return to their garages after just one lap on the wet track. Both McLarens, the Alpine of Pierre Gasly, and Kevin Magnussen’s Haas are next in line to appear on track while rain is even pouring down harder at the Hungaroring. These drivers also don’t stay out long, so again it becomes quiet on track halfway through the session.

With just twenty minutes left Max is getting ready to get in his car again. Other drivers are also climbing in their cars and going out on the track again. The first times appear on the clock, and then Carlos Sainz spins and shoots onto the grass. A red flag is waved again. The Spaniard is stuck on the grass in turn three, as his tyres cannot get any grip on the wet grass.

With eleven minutes to go, the track is cleared again and quite a lot of cars go out, but Max is still in his garage. And five minutes before the end of the session, he climbs out of his car, ending his first free practice session early. 

Contest Hungarian GP: win a by Max Verstappen signed Verstappen.com Racing cap!

Results first free practice Hungary: