Budapest (Reuters)
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crashed during the second practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix, as McLaren’s Lando Norris outpaced Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the Formula 1 world champion.
Norris lapped the Hungaroring, where track temperatures soared to 41 degrees Celsius, in a time of 1 minute 17.788 seconds on soft tyres.
Verstappen, who leads the Briton by 84 points in the championship after winning seven of 12 races, was 0.243 seconds behind the Briton in an updated car.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who was fastest in the first practice session, was third ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Mercedes’ George Russell, with Mercedes having won the last two races.
Leclerc brought out the red flags and halted the practice session 43 minutes from the end when he sped across the track and hit metal barriers hidden behind advertising boards.
The medical car was deployed due to the collision, but Leclerc appeared unharmed and returned to the pit lane as a passenger, with the session resuming 15 minutes later.
Kevin Magnussen was a strong sixth, while seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was seventh for Mercedes.
RB Le Mans’ Daniel Ricciardo, Williams’ Alex Albon and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso completed the top ten.
Ferrari driver Sainz had boosted his team’s hopes after setting the fastest time in the first free practice session earlier today, beating three-time world champion Verstappen, while Leclerc came in third.
Sainz recorded a lap of 1:18:713, 0.276 seconds ahead of Verstappen.
Mercedes driver Russell was fourth fastest, ahead of Zhu Guanyu in the surprisingly fast and updated Sauber and the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
“We are all testing and that’s why you will see a lot of fluctuations in performance, at least today until the level is probably closer tomorrow,” RB team principal Laurent Mekies told Sky Sports.
Ferrari reserve driver Oliver Permane replaced Hulkenberg in the first free practice session with the Haas team, which he will join next season, and came in last place in the standings.
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