F1 Hungarian Grand Prix: FP1 Red-Flagged following Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz Crash
As rain and red flags halted the first session of practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix, George Russell came out on top. A 1:38.795 was the lap time that the Mercedes driver achieved.
By Divyam Dubey
Sergio Perez's weekend at the Hungaroring got off to a terrible start when, inside the first five minutes of FP1, he was involved in a massive accident. The Mexican driver's situation was already precarious going into the weekend because of his repeated inability to advance to Q3. On his first lap of FP1 in Hungary, he lost control and dipped a wheel into the grass, sending him spinning into the barriers. The accident caused the red flag to be waved, and now Checo has to battle even harder to retain his F1 seat at the Red Bull. The second red flag was caused by Carlos Sainz, who beached his Ferrari on the run down to turn four. The Spanish driver was on intermediate tyres and making his way into sector one when he lost control and spun into the barrier, coming to a stop on the curb. Luckily, Sainz's Ferrari was only slightly damaged in the collision, but he still had to go into the pits to have the front wing repaired once the marshals got him back on the track.
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Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix: Perez’ Desasterious FP1 Season
Within the first few minutes of the practice, Perez had a serious crash with the barrier. When Perez's tyre went into the grass as he was entering the curve, he spun and careened towards the tyre wall. The red flags were flown, and marshals were sent to rescue him, so play was halted quickly.
With Daniel Ricciardo making his first F1 appearance of the season, this weekend in Hungary is crucial for Perez to prove his worth and ease concerns about his future in the sport. The well-liked Aussie driver wants back into the Red Bull squad after impressing team principal Christian Horner in a Pirelli tyre test.
For Ricciardo, the next 12 races are an opportunity to demonstrate his superiority versus the Mexican in a real-world setting. The confidence gap between Perez and teammate Max Verstappen is already huge, and this incident will just make things worse for Perez.
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Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix: FP1 Season Result
| Pos | Driver | Team | Best Time |
| 1 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1m38.795s |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1m39.154s |
| 3 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1m40.013s |
| 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1m40.277s |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1m40.687s |
| 6 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 1m41.032s |
| 7 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1m41.142s |
| 8 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 1m41.363s |
| 9 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 1m41.416s |
| 10 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas | 1m42.706s |
| 11 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1m42.906s |
| 12 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 1m45.575s |
| 13 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1m47.407s |
Despite the rain and red flags, George Russell came out on top in the first session of practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix. After a rain shower changed the track conditions, the Mercedes driver established a new record by finishing in 1:38.795.
In third place for Aston Martin was Lance Stroll, who finished ahead of Lando Norris in the second McLaren. In unrepresentative circumstances, Fernando Alonso finished fifth, behind Valtteri Bottas, Charles Leclerc, Zhou Guanyu, Logan Sargeant, and Nico Hulkenberg.
While teammate Sergio Perez crashed out of the practice in the first five minutes, Max Verstappen decided against setting a time despite leaving the pits. Lewis Hamilton similarly decided without submitting a lap time.
