Lewis Hamilton edged his team-mate Charles Leclerc to the fastest time in second practice as Ferrari dominated the first day of running at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

After Leclerc had comfortably topped Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Hamilton in Friday’s opening session, the seven-time world champion found major improvement later in the day to turn a half-second deficit into a 0.158s advantage over his team-mate.

The nearest challenger to Ferrari in the more representative second session was reigning world champion Lando Norris, who was just short of half a second back from Hamilton in his upgraded McLaren.

While Ferrari’s pace at the Hungaroring – a circuit many had assumed would suit their car – came as little surprise, the Italian team will be further buoyed by the unexpected struggles of championship leader Kimi Antonelli and his Mercedes team.

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Franco Colapinto lost control of his Alpine at the final corner before shunting into the barriers, causing a red flag in the middle of second practice

Having sat out the first session as Mercedes fulfilled one of their obligated rookie driver sessions, Antonelli struggled badly on his return to action as he repeatedly ran off track amid rear locking issues.

The 19-year-old Italian, who leads Hamilton by 45 points at the top of the standings, was only 13th and almost two seconds off the pace, while his team-mate George Russell was almost a full second back from the lead time in fifth despite completing a flying lap on fresh soft tyres.

Verstappen was almost seven tenths off the pace in fourth, with his Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar behind Russell in sixth.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who also sat out the first session, was a disappointing eighth as he was outpaced by Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, but his deficit to team-mate Norris could potentially be explained by the Australian not having the same full upgrade package on his car.

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Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll avoids the barrier after failure leaves him stranded on track, triggering a red flag in P1 at the Hungarian Grand Prix

While Mercedes, along with McLaren and Red Bull, have time to make gains on Ferrari ahead of final practice at 11.30am on Saturday, the Italian team have established themselves as clear favourites for one of the season’s most crucial qualifying sessions, which follows at 3pm, live on Sky Sports F1.

The session was interrupted by a red flag for almost 10 minutes when Franco Colapinto heavily crashed his Alpine on entry to the final corner.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll didn’t feature after his suspension broke in first practice, with the team’s woeful season continuing as their unveiling of a 16-part upgrade package was overshadowed by the incident.

Fernando Alonso was unable to deliver any notable improvement in their one working car in second practice, as he finished between the two cars of 2026 newcomers Cadillac in 19th, almost three seconds off the pace.

Hungarian GP Practice Two Timesheet

Driver
Team
Time

1) Lewis Hamilton
Ferrari
1:18.729

2) Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
+0.148

3) Lando Norris
McLaren
+0.499

4) Max Verstappen
Red Bull
+0.692

5) George Russell
Mercedes
+0.933

6) Isack Hadjar
Red Bull
+1.071

7) Liam Lawson
Racing Bulls
+1.312

8) Oscar Piastri
McLaren
+1.372

9) Nico Hulkenberg
Audi
+1.396

10) Arvid Lindblad
Racing Bulls
+1.524

11) Gabriel Bortoleto
Audi
+1.745

12) Esteban Ocon
Haas
+1.828

13) Kimi Antonelli
Mercedes
+1.964

14) Pierre Gasly
Alpine
+2.087

15) Oliver Bearman
Haas
+2.221

16) Alex Albon
Williams
+2.244

17) Carlos Sainz
Williams
+2.697

18) Valtteri Bottas
Cadillac
+2.713

19) Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin
+2.990

20) Sergio Perez
Cadillac
+3.063

21) Franco Colapinto
Alpine
+3.802

22) Lance Stroll
Aston Martin
no time set

Sky Sports F1’s Hungarian GP schedule

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The first lap of the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix saw several drivers crash into one another

Saturday July 25
9am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Hungarian GP Practice Three (session starts at 11.30am)
1.10pm: F2 Sprint*
2.15pm: Hungarian GP Qualifying build-up*
3pm: HUNGARIAN GP QUALIFYING*
5pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*

Sunday July 26
7.35am: F3 Feature Race
9.05am: Porsche Supercup
10.20am: F2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Hungarian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
2pm: THE HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Hungarian GP reaction: Chequered Flag*
5pm: Ted’s Notebook*

*Also on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1 heads straight to Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix with every session live on Sky Sports F1 from this Friday. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime