FP2: Hamilton puts McLaren on top again in Hungary

  • Published on 27 Jul 2012 16:42
  • comments 0
  • By: Rob Veenstra
A heavy shower with 42 minutes of the second free practice session still to run ended an entertaining battle for supremacy at the Hungaroring on Friday afternoon. But though the times were as tight as ever it was interesting that Lewis Hamilton still had the upper hand for McLaren.

Hamilton lapped in 1m 21.995s, for the second time in the day being in a time bracket all on his own, while Kimi Raikkonen got closest with 1m 22.180s for dark horse Lotus. Bruno Senna made up for the time lost handing his Williams FW34 over to Valtteri Bottas to run third with 1m 22.253s, with the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso next up on 1m 22.417s and 1m 22.582s.

Jenson Button was sixth in the second McLaren with 1m 22.747s ahead of Paul di Resta in the leading Force India on 1m 22.794s. Sebastian Vettel was only eighth for Red Bull with 1m 22.824s, with Lotus’s Romain Grosjean rounding out those under 1m 23s with 1m 22.922s.

Michael Schumacher was Mercedes’ lead runner again with 1m 23.160s but had team mate Nico Rosberg right with him on 1m 23.164s. The veteran was one of the first to go out later when the track was at its worst, but damaged his W03 mildly after aquaplaning into the tyre wall at Turn 12.

Pastor Maldonado was 12th in the second Williams on 1m 23.337s, with Nico Hulkenberg taking over his Force India from Jules Bianchi to post 1m 23.713s. Red Bull’s Mark Webber was only 14th on 1m 23.814s with Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi next on 1m 23.841s. Then came the Toro Rossos with Jean-Eric Vergne ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, with 1m 24.328s to 1m 24.345s. Sauber’s Sergio Perez followed them with 1m 24.623s.

Caterham reverted Vitaly Petrov to the Valencia set-up in a bid to find pace and the Russian lapped his CT-01 in 1m 24.823s as Heikki Kovalainen with the latest configuration couldn’t better 1m 25.220s. Then there was a big gap to the final four, where Timo Glock lapped his Marussia in 1m 27.104s to head Pedro de la Rosa’s HRT on 1m 27.106s, team mate Charles Pic on 1m 27.185s and Narain Karthikeyan on 1m 27.822s in the other HRT.

Even before the rain there were plenty of minor incidents, with Massa, Schumacher, De la Rosa, Alonso, Di Resta, Maldonado, Vergne and Kovalainen going off road at times. The rain also upset a lot of the day’s planned running, obliging teams to switch from the medium Pirellis to the soft sooner than they had planned. (Formula1.com)

Replies (0)

Login to reply

BE Grand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

BEGrand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

World Championship standings 2024

Show full world champion standings

Test calendar

See full test schedule

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
29 - Mar 2
Bahrain
7 - Mar 9
Saudi Arabia
22 - Mar 24
Australia
5 - Apr 7
Japan
19 - Apr 21
China
3 - May 5
United States of America
17 - May 19
Italy
24 - May 26
Monaco
7 - Jun 9
Canada
21 - Jun 23
Spain
28 - Jun 30
Austria
5 - Jul 7
United Kingdom
19 - Jul 21
Hungary
26 - Jul 28
Belgium
23 - Aug 25
Netherlands
30 - Sep 1
Italy
13 - Sep 15
Azerbaijan
20 - Sep 22
Singapore
18 - Oct 20
United States of America
25 - Oct 27
Mexico
1 - Nov 3
Brazil
22 - Nov 24
United States of America
29 - Dec 1
Qatar
6 - Dec 8
United Arab Emirates
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
29 - Mar 2
7 - Mar 9
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
22 - Mar 24
Australia Albert Park
5 - Apr 7
19 - Apr 21
3 - May 5
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
17 - May 19
24 - May 26
Monaco Monte Carlo
7 - Jun 9
21 - Jun 23
28 - Jun 30
Austria Red Bull Ring
5 - Jul 7
United Kingdom Silverstone
19 - Jul 21
Hungary Hungaroring
26 - Jul 28
23 - Aug 25
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
30 - Sep 1
Italy Monza
13 - Sep 15
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
20 - Sep 22
18 - Oct 20
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
25 - Oct 27
1 - Nov 3
Brazil Interlagos
22 - Nov 24
United States of America Las Vegas Street Circuit
29 - Dec 1
6 - Dec 8
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
See full schedule

Driver profile

  • Team Aston Martin
  • Points 526
  • Podiums 9
  • Grand Prix 148
  • Country ES
  • Date of b. Jul 29 1981 (42)
  • Place of b. Oviedo, ES
  • Weight 68 kg
  • Length 1.71 m
Show full profile

Team profile

Show full profile
show sidebar