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Hungarian GP: Ferrari Pace Dominates Friday Practice

Lewis Hamilton led a Ferrari one-two in Friday's second practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix, while championship leader Kimi Antonelli struggled with car balance and finished 13th.

By Taylor Kim5 Aug 2026 / 2 min read
F1

Reporting note: this article draws on Sky Sports; TaxiSports provides the summary and editorial framing.

Hungarian GP: Ferrari Pace Dominates Friday Practice

Ferrari Sets the Pace at Hungaroring

Ferrari established a clear performance advantage during Friday's practice sessions for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton led a Ferrari one-two in the second session, clocking a time 0.158s faster than team-mate Charles Leclerc. This result marks a significant shift from the opening session, where Leclerc had comfortably outpaced the field.

The Hungaroring's technical layout, characterized by high-downforce requirements and tight, twisting sectors, appears to favor the current Ferrari chassis configuration. While Lando Norris finished as the nearest challenger in his upgraded McLaren, he remained nearly half a second off Hamilton’s benchmark.

Mercedes Struggles and Championship Implications

The performance gap between Ferrari and the championship leaders was highlighted by the difficulties faced by Mercedes. Kimi Antonelli, currently leading the drivers' standings, concluded the second session in 13th place. The 19-year-old struggled with recurring rear-locking issues, leading to multiple excursions off the track. His teammate, George Russell, finished fifth, nearly a full second behind the lead pace.

These technical hurdles for Mercedes arrive at a critical juncture in the season, as the team attempts to maintain momentum against a resurgent Ferrari. With Antonelli holding a 45-point lead over Hamilton, the inability to find a stable balance on the asphalt—which acted as a volatile antagonist throughout the day—could prove costly during Saturday's qualifying.

Field Notes and Incidents

  • Red Flag: The second session was halted for approximately 10 minutes following a heavy crash by Alpine’s Franco Colapinto at the final corner.
  • Aston Martin Setback: Lance Stroll did not participate in the second session after a suspension failure in Practice One. Fernando Alonso finished 19th, struggling with the team's latest upgrade package.
  • Red Bull Performance: Max Verstappen finished fourth, approximately seven-tenths off the pace, with teammate Isack Hadjar in sixth.

Teams now have limited time to refine their setups before final practice at 11:30 am on Saturday, followed by the crucial qualifying session at 3:00 pm.

# F1# Charles Leclerc# F1# Ferrari# Hungarian GP# Hungarian GP qualifying# Kimi Antonelli# Lewis Hamilton# qualification# standings# table

Taylor Kim

Formula 1 Correspondent

Taylor Kim covers Formula 1 by treating each grand prix as a data set with a structural flaw. Race reports do not follow chronology; they begin at the specific anomaly—a 0.043-second throttle dip, a brake temperature 11 degrees past threshold, a ride-height sensor out of tolerance. From there the event is assembled geometrically, paragraph breaks arriving like syncopation. Chassis design is described in architectural terms: floor edges as load paths, diffuser profiles as cantilevered arguments, downforce as a roof under negative pressure. A lock-up is not drama but arithmetic, its time loss calculated to the millisecond inside the sentence. Between longer passages, single-line observations surface: the pit-lane escape road is too narrow by half a trolley width. Tire degradation appears only as chemical decay, and track asphalt behaves as a volatile, animate antagonist, opening its grain to consume rubber on its own schedule. What a reader gets is not a hero story but a schematic of tolerances, errors, and material behavior—acerbic, mechanical, and stripped of romance.

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