Quebecer Lance Stroll posted the third fastest time in the first free practice session of the Hungarian Grand Prix on Friday, before being caught by most of the field in the second.
Only George Russell (Mercedes) and Oscar Piastri (McLaren) achieved a faster lap than the Aston Martin team driver in the first practice. In the rain, Stroll was only able to complete 10 laps in 60 minutes.
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Stroll posted his fastest time, completing the loop in 1:40.013. That was 1.218 seconds faster than the benchmark time set by Russell.
“It was good to be back at the Hungaroring today; it’s a circuit on which I like to drive a lot. We had a limited outing in FP1, with only 10 laps due to heavy rain,” he told his team’s website.
The first stage of the day was marked by an exit from the track by Sergio Perez (Red Bull). The Mexican spun and damaged his front end by hitting the safety tyres. The incident resulted in a red flag.
Tests for the car
Those who had done well during the first session of the day slowed down during the second. Stroll posted the 12th fastest time, while Russell and Piastri took the last two positions.
The gap narrowed at the front since the 24-year-old driver only conceded six tenths of a second to the leader, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari). Without precipitation, Stroll was able to set a more normal time of 1:18.319, and most importantly, complete 32 laps.
“FP2 has been busier with several tests to be carried out on the AMR23,” he said. Luckily the rain didn’t interfere and we were able to do a good number of laps and worked the whole session. I believe there are still some changes to be made with qualifying, so we’ll take what we learned today and look to tomorrow. [samedi].”
On his return to a Formula 1 car, Daniel Ricciardo (Alpha Tauri) took 14th position in the second session.
The race, the 11th event of the season, will take place on Sunday.