Second practice session in Hungary: Hamilton/Ferrari 1st, Verstappen P4, Antonelli out of luck

The result of the first free practice session in Hungary was a bit of a guessing game: the track was too dusty, there were too many Friday drivers out on the track, too many Evo parts being tested, and the drivers were on soft tyres at different times.

One thing was clear to everyone: the second practice session would reveal what was really going on at the Hungaroring, now with all 22 regular drivers on the track, including championship leader Kimi Antonelli – the 19-year-old Italian had vacated his cockpit in the first practice session for Mercedes reserve driver Frederik Vesti.

All the regular drivers? Not a chance! Following a rear-left suspension failure in Canadian Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin during the first practice session, the experts had to set about troubleshooting. The team are not revealing exactly what went wrong.

Stroll did not take part in the second practice session, whereas superstar Fernando Alonso did. This suggests there is no fundamental problem with the modified suspension. It remains unclear whether Stroll caused the damage himself by hitting the kerb hard.

Another cause for concern: Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari. He came to a standstill at the end of the first practice session; Ferrari, too, was as tight-lipped as a fish about the problem, merely confirming that everything was ‘tutto perfetto’ for the second practice session. The Silverstone Grand Prix winner was, in fact, one of the first drivers out on the track.

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With a pleasant 24 degrees (the track at 32 degrees) and a few harmless fluffy clouds, the track was still quite dusty. The problem: Hungary, too, had been unseasonably dry in recent weeks, as well as windier than usual, with nasty gusts, and dust was simply being blown in from the many fields nearby. No matter how hard the hard-working circuit staff clean the track between practice sessions, there’s only so much they can do.

The race stewards had their work cut out for them between practice sessions: Verstappen and Sainz had got in each other’s way, then Sainz and Paul Aron in the Alpine, followed by Verstappen and Sainz again. The only consequence: a warning for the Spaniard for the second incident involving Max Verstappen.

After a quarter of an hour, both Ferraris were at the front, with Hamilton ahead of Leclerc, followed by Verstappen, Russell, Norris, Antonelli and Nico Hülkenberg in the Audi. Fernando Alonso was in P14 in the upgraded Aston Martin.

Championship leader Antonelli complained over the radio: “Oh my God, I nearly spun out twice under braking – what on earth is going on?” On both occasions, his rear wheels had locked up. The team brought the Italian into the pits to adjust the aero balance more towards the rear axle.

The wind was causing significant problems. Grand Prix winner Pierre Gasly sensed something was amiss: “Something can’t be right. The car feels completely different to how it did in the first practice session.” World Sports Car Champion Anthony Davidson, commentating for Sky in Hungary, said: “I was up there at Turn 12 in the first practice session; the wind can be so nasty that the car feels as though something’s wrong with it.”

The wind caught out numerous drivers, most of them whilst braking for the first corner, but also before the chicane in the upper section of the circuit.

In the first 30 minutes, most drivers were on the medium-compound Pirelli tyres (marked yellow), with a few on the hard compound (marked white).

Then, after just over 20 minutes, things got interesting: the first drivers began qualifying simulations on the soft Pirelli tyres, marked with red side stripes.

Champion Norris took the lead, just under two tenths ahead of Verstappen, whilst Russell couldn’t keep up. Max complained over the radio: “I’m not sitting perfectly; I’m leaning back too far, which is really hard on my back.”

Kimi Antonelli was on a fast lap but didn’t get very far – because Franco Colapinto crashed his Alpine backwards into the track barrier on the final lap: red flag! It was game over for the Argentine – the car’s rear wing was damaged, the rear suspension was broken, and no one currently knows whether the gearbox survived the impact.

Standings after 30 minutes: Norris, Verstappen, Hamilton, Russell, Leclerc, Hadjar, Hülkenberg, Antonelli only in P9.

After a seven-minute enforced break (the clock was still ticking, of course), the track was reopened. Initially without Verstappen, as work was being carried out on the seat in his car.

Kimi Antonelli stormed straight back out, still chasing his first run on soft tyres (he’d had to sit out the first practice session, after all). The championship leader messed up the approach to the chicane after the rear end broke away. Nothing again.

The Bolognese driver grumbled over the radio: “The rear axle’s still tending to lock up, man.” No reply from the man in question, Kimi’s race engineer Peter Bonnington.

After 40 minutes, Leclerc was in the lead, with Barcelona winner Lewis Hamilton 37 thousandths of a second behind. Ferrari is making a good impression at the Hungaroring.

Then Verstappen on the radio: “I’ve hit a piece of debris with the front wing, please keep an eye on that.” Red Bull Racing gave the all-clear: “The data shows everything’s fine.”

At this stage, Verstappen was on a par with Norris in the McLaren in terms of lap times during the endurance run.

But Max isn’t happy with the set-up yet: “The rear axle is too stiff; I’ve got no grip at the rear.”

Conclusion: We haven’t yet seen the true balance of power, particularly with Kimi Antonelli in the Mercedes. But Ferrari has hinted that the Scuderia’s third win of the season is on the cards here.