By Alan Baldwin
BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crashed in the second Hungarian Grand Prix practice session on Friday, with McLaren’s Lando Norris fastest ahead of Red Bull’s runaway Formula One leader Max Verstappen.
Norris lapped the Hungaroring, where track temperatures soared to 41 degrees Celsius, with a best time of one minute and 17.788 seconds on the soft tyres.
Verstappen, 84 points ahead of the Briton in the championship after winning seven of 12 races, was 0.243 off the pace in an upgraded car.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, fastest in the first session, was third quickest ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Mercedes’ George Russell.
Mercedes have won the past two races.
Leclerc brought out red flags to halt the session, with 43 minutes remaining, when he spun at speed and across the track and into the metal Armco barriers hidden behind advertising boards.
The medical car was deployed due to the impact but Leclerc appeared unhurt and returned to the pits as a passenger. The session resumed 15 minutes later.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner said it had been a positive day for his team and probably under-performing Perez’s best Friday since China in April.
“There’s a slight difference between the cars, both of them have upgrades and the only bit Checo (Perez) is missing is the engine cover and sidepod element,” he told Sky Sports television.
“The floor, the wing and the rest of it is the same. We’ve got some great data.”
Kevin Magnussen, out of a drive with Haas at the end of the season, was a strong sixth and seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton seventh for Mercedes.
RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, Williams’ Alex Albon and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso completed the top 10.
Sainz had raised Ferrari hopes by leading triple champion Verstappen in FP1 (practice one), with Leclerc third, in a time of 1:18.713.
That time was 0.276 quicker than Verstappen.
Russell was fourth in FP1 ahead of Guanyu Zhou in the surprisingly quick and upgraded Sauber and the McLarens of Norris and Oscar Piastri.
“We are all experimenting, which is why you will see a lot of performance swings through the sectors. At least today until it probably converges tomorrow,” RB team boss Laurent Mekies told Sky Sports television.
Ferrari reserve Oliver Bearman, the Briton who will race for Haas next season, replaced Nico Hulkenberg at the U.S.-owned team for the first session and was last overall.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis and Christian Radnedge)
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