Red Bull drivers top the rain-affected FP2

F1 Grand Prix, GP Hungary, Hungaroring

Pierre Gasly went quickest in the second free practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix in front of his team mate Max Verstappen. Ferrari drivers only finished in the midfield in the rain-affected afternoon session.

Already at the start of the session, there was a threat of rain with dark clouds covering the sky over the Hungaroring. However, the first minutes were dry enough for the drivers to use the slick tyres. Having sat out FP1 due to an engine-related issue, Valtteri Bottas quickly made appearance on the track to collect some useful data and make up on the lost track time.

The session was then interrupted early after following Alexander Albon’s crash at Turn 14. The Thai-British driver lost control over his Toro Rosso after having gone wide and clipping the grass into the second bend of the circuit. The marshals did a quick job to clear the track, enabling the drivers to continue their work.

Pierre Gasly recorded the fastest lap with a time of 1’17.854 on Pirelli’s soft tyres. His team-mate Max Verstappen was only 0.055 seconds slower on the medium compounds while it was Lewis Hamilton who recorded the most impressive lap time. The Briton set a 1’17.995 on Pirelli’s hard rubber while his team mate Valtteri Bottas ended the session fourth fastest on the medium tyres.

As it started to drizzle with 25 minutes into the session, track conditions got really difficult. There was not enough water on the track for intermediates, but it was too slippery for slick. It then forced most of the drivers to stay in the pits for a long while.

With around twenty minutes to go, the intensity of rain increased, inviting drivers to head on to the track for wet-weather tyre running. Kimi Räikkönen, Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc made the most out of the condition. The German driver completed a high-fuel long run on Pirelli's intermediates, probably trying to find out why he did not find the comfort on the wet surface in last weekend's German Grand Prix.