Leclerc flies with Ferrari and leads rookie-filled FP1 in Hungary

Stroll’s incident during the second half of FP1 / Video: F1 TV)

Charles Leclerc delivered the first strong sign that Ferrari has arrived in force for the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, leading Friday’s (24) FP1 session in Budapest. The Monegasque driver claimed the top spot on the leaderboard with a 1m19s075 effort, 0.484s quicker than Max Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top three.

In a weekend where Alpine was the only team not to bring any car updates, several constructors stood out regarding the effectiveness of their new packages. Aston Martin led that group in terms of focus, and Fernando Alonso enjoyed moments that provided genuine optimism for the Silverstone squad.

The same could not be said for Lance Stroll, who suffered a issue with the team’s new suspension assembly and narrowly avoided a heavy crash only through good fortune. On the positive side, two crucial practice sessions remained ahead of Qualifying for potential setup corrections.

Among the front-running teams, the absence of Andrea Kimi Antonelli was notably felt, as George Russell ended up nearly a full second adrift of Leclerc. However, Ferrari and Red Bull were already expected to show stronger form than last weekend at Spa on a circuit demanding maximum aerodynamic efficiency—demonstrated as Charles and Verstappen swapped the top spot multiple times throughout the session.

Hamilton finished further back, struggling to match his Ferrari teammate’s pace while complaining heavily over team radio about the drivability of his SF-26. The 0.5s gap between the two was unusually wide given their recent performances.

Frederik Vesti was the highest-placed rookie in the session (Photo: AFP

Another standout performer was Audi, with Gabriel Bortoleto securing an impressive sixth-place result. The Brazilian consistently ran inside the top 10, as did teammate Nico Hülkenberg in eighth. Both drivers finished ahead of the Racing Bulls duo, Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson, who completed the top 10.

In total, five rookie drivers took part in the opening practice session: Frederik Vesti took over Antonelli’s seat at Mercedes and finished as the top rookie in eighth; Leonardo Fornaroli stepped into Oscar Piastri’s McLaren, ending up 16th; Ryo Hirakawa drove Oliver Bearman’s Haas to 17th; Paul Aron piloted Franco Colapinto’s Alpine to 19th; and Colton Herta drove Valtteri Bottas’s Cadillac, ending the session in 20th.

Adrian Newey closely inspecting Aston Martin’s upgraded car in Hungary (Photo: Aston Martin

How FP1 unfolded at the Hungaroring:

The pit exit green light illuminated with ambient temperatures at 23°C, track temperatures reaching 41°C, and relative humidity at 32%. On track, all eyes were glued to the Aston Martin garage as the team debuted a massive 16-upgrade overhaul across various areas of the AMR26—a definitive gamble to escape the performance slump troubling them since pre-season testing.

Based on early installation runs, both Alonso and Stroll frequented the top 10, though definitive answers would have to wait until FP2—not only due to track conditions aligning closer to Qualifying and Race environments, but also with the full grid returning after five rookies stepped in for FP1.

Ten minutes into the session, Verstappen topped the charts with a 1m20s788, followed by Leclerc just 0.096s behind. Russell, maximizing his track time in Antonelli’s temporary absence, was the leading Mercedes driver in third. However, the gap stood at 1.2s to Verstappen, even with both running on medium tires. Russell later found a cleaner lap, trimming that deficit down to 0.4s.

F1 2026, HUNGRIA, MEDIA DAY, MCLAREN, LEONARDO FORNAROLI — Leonardo Fornaroli drove Oscar Piastri’s car (Photo: McLaren)

Hamilton then moved his Ferrari ahead of Russell into third with a 1m21s065, 0.277s off Max’s pace. Norris, Lindblad, Fornaroli, Lawson, Bortoleto, and Hülkenberg filled out the remainder of the top 10.

Action intensified with 45 minutes remaining on the clock. Leclerc went 0.5s quicker than Verstappen to put Ferrari back on top. Hamilton launched another push lap, setting the fastest first sector before dropping 0.1s in sector two. His lap was 0.3s slower than Charles’, but proved enough to secure a provisional 1-2 for the red cars. Moments prior, Hamilton had inadvertently impeded one of Leclerc’s push laps, drawing a measured complaint over the radio from his teammate.

Verstappen was similarly impeded by Sainz, prompting race stewards to note the incident for post-session review. The Williams driver sat down in 18th with 40 minutes remaining.

At the bottom of the order, Isack Hadjar improved his overall time but remained far off the leading pace in 13th, just ahead of the Aston Martin pair. Meanwhile, Hamilton continued to express frustration over the SF-26’s handling. He wasn’t the only driver struggling: sitting 0.6s off his teammate, Bortoleto also complained about an overly stiff ride setup.

Despite the balance struggles, Gabriel made a significant jump near the half-hour mark, recording a 1m21s425 to climb to fifth on medium tires. Soft-compound runs began to materialize shortly after as Russell and Norris re-emerged from the pits.

Setting the purple second sector, Russell posted a 1m20s066 to take over P1. Norris went fastest through the opening sector before aborting his attempt and returning to the pit lane. Verstappen then bolted on soft tires, topping Russell’s sector two benchmark while claiming the fastest third sector to complete a lap of 1m19s559—0.5s quicker than the W17.

On softs, Hülkenberg slotted into sixth, 1.2s off the ultimate pace and 0.6s clear of Bortoleto, who remained eighth on mediums. The Racing Bulls entries also put in solid runs, with Lindblad holding fifth and Lawson settling into seventh.

With 26 minutes remaining, Leclerc set purple sectors across the entire lap to deliver a 1m19s075—0.4s clear of Max and nearly a full second faster than Russell. Hadjar then elevated the second RB22 into P3, demoting Russell, though sitting 0.5s back from Verstappen.

Hamilton improved his time on softs, moving within 0.1s of Verstappen and 0.5s of Leclerc. With 22 minutes remaining, red flags were deployed after Lance Stroll spun following a rear suspension failure. Fortunately, he avoided barrier impact, preventing severe damage to Aston Martin’s fresh bodywork. The pit lane reopened with 16 minutes remaining for long-run race simulations.

F1 2026: Hungarian GP – FP1 Results (Hungaroring)

1	C LECLERC	Ferrari	1:19.075
2	M VERSTAPPEN	Red Bull RBPT Ford	1:19.559	+0.484
3	L HAMILTON	Ferrari	1:19.618	+0.543
4	I HADJAR	Red Bull RBPT Ford	1:19.997	+0.922
5	G RUSSELL	Mercedes	1:20.066	+0.991
6	G BORTOLETO	Audi	1:20.360	+1.285
7	F VESTI	Mercedes	1:20.467	+1.392
8	N HÜLKENBERG	Audi	1:20.623	+1.548
9	A LINDBLAD	Racing Bulls RBPT Ford	1:20.760	+1.685
10	L LAWSON	Racing Bulls RBPT Ford	1:20.866	+1.791
11	L NORRIS	McLaren Mercedes	1:21.024	+1.949
12	E OCON	Haas Ferrari	1:21.051	+1.976
13	F ALONSO	Aston Martin Honda	1:21.550	+2.475
14	P GASLY	Alpine Mercedes	1:21.704	+2.629
15	A ALBON	Williams Mercedes	1:21.819	+2.744
16	L FORNAROLI	McLaren Mercedes	1:21.890	+2.815
17	R HIRAKAWA	Haas Ferrari	1:22.001	+2.926
18	S PÉREZ	Cadillac Ferrari	1:22.089	+3.014
19	P ARON	Alpine Mercedes	1:22.168	+3.093
20	C HERTA	Cadillac Ferrari	1:23.118	+4.043
21	L STROLL	Aston Martin Honda	1:23.471	+4.396
22	C SAINZ	Williams Mercedes	1:23.734	+4.659