Hamilton fastest, Perez crashes in Free practice 1

July 24, 2015 • Event Reports, Featured • Alexander S

Lewis Hamilton was the fastest during the first Free practice of the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix which was marked by the huge crash of Sergio Perez.

Few test drivers got their chance to show what they can do at the 4.381 km long Hungaroring circuit near Budapest. Jolyon Palmer again was replaced for Romain Grosjean in the seat of Force India, while Swiss Fabio Leimer tested one of the Manor’s keeping Roberto Merhi out of this session.

The opening rounds were simply used for data gathering and after 30 minutes Lewis Hamilton set the best lap time – 1:25.291. Almost one second behind was another Mercedes driver, Nico Rosberg, while Daniel Ricciardo was third with 1:26.350.

After a long break, cars slowly started to get back to the track, but without too much interesting action. Raikkonen managed to move up to the second spot , 0.521 behind Hamilton, but not for long as Rosberg went ahead of the Ferrari driver.

Just a few moments later, the session was red flagged after Sergio Perez’s heavy crash. The Mexican driver of Force India flipped upside down after skidding into barrier in Turn 11, but luckily Perez was unhurt and managed to get out of the car immediately after accident.

The clock continued to click down and with some 15 minutes to go, free practice was resumed. Rosberg reduced the gap again, while Raikkonen lost his front wing as he ran over the exit kerbs and the wing then puctured his tyre, so he had to go back to the pit. The red flag was shown again and that was the end of the first free practice.

While Hamilton’s 1:25.141 remained unbeaten, Rosberg had the second best lap time of 1:25.250, while Raikkonen was third with 1:25.812. Daniel Ricciardo was fourth and Daniil Kvyat fifth, adding some confidence to Red Bull team, while Sebastian Vettel, who is still waiting for the first victory in Hungary, was sixth.