Charles Leclerc set the fastest time in the second practice session of the Hungarian Grand Prix ahead of Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc dominated the second practice of the Hungarian Grand Prix after the opening session was canceled due to bad weather.
The second one-hour practice provided far better conditions for drivers to deal with than the first practice, which was cut short by rain and a severe crash involving Sergio Perez.
The Ferrari driver was only 0.015 seconds faster than Norris in his best time, which was 1’17.686 on soft tires. The two Mercedes drivers, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, as well as Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez from Red Bull did not place in the top ten on the times sheets.
Drivers were grateful to find a completely dry track waiting for them when the pit lane opened for the second session after rain halted the first session of the day. While the majority of teams made the most of their chance to race, Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez as well as the two Ferraris driven by Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. initially chose to remain in the pit lane.
The only drivers to start the hour’s initial runs on the soft tyres were the two Williams drivers. They quickly beat the initial times, with Sargeant’s time of 1’18.836 being a tenth of a second quicker than teammate Alexander Albon’s.
The two Red Bulls made their first foray with soft tires a little over a quarter of an hour into the session. The Ferraris quickly joined them and took off on the medium compound.
Verstappen was second fastest after shaving 0.1 seconds off Sargeant’s pace, but Yuki Tsunoda in his AlphaTauri ultimately took the lead with a time of 1’17.934 on the soft compound. Lando Norris soon eclipsed Tsunoda’s time, also on soft tires by shaving two tenths off his fastest time.
With Leclerc switching to soft tires for the fastest time during the practice, Norris’ reign at the top of the times lasted about ten minutes. The Ferrari driver narrowly edged off the McLaren to win by 0.015 seconds as Pierre Gasly moved up to third place, two tenths behind.
Teams spent the second half of the practice concentrating on long runs, therefore there were no significant improvements. The chequered flag at the end of 60 minutes confirmed Leclerc as the fastest of all, and there were no major incidents or challenges for drivers in the second half of the hour.
The top four positions were filled by four different constructors thanks to Norris who finished second for McLaren ahead of Gasly and Tsunoda.
In the second Alpine, Esteban Ocon finished fifth fastest while Hulkenberg finished sixth for Haas. For Alfa Romeo, Valtteri Bottas finished eighth ahead of Fernando Alonso and Zhou Guanyu.
Verstappen who only used one set of soft tyres over the session, was only one position behind Carlos Sainz Jr. who rounded out the top ten in the second Ferrari.
Under the new Alternative Tyre Allocation regulations in F1, he wasn’t the only driver that limited his laps. The Mercedes duo and Oscar Piastri, who was briefly confined to the garage due to floor damage, each went through one set of mediums.
On his first Friday in 2023, Daniel Ricciardo took it slow and finished 14th fastest. The Australian did however finish 29 laps, which should give him a solid foundation to build on for the remainder of the weekend.
After suffering a severe shunt in Free Practice 1, Sergio Perez was back in his RB19. With only 13 laps completed over the 4.3 kilometer Hungaroring, the Mexican eventually placed his Red Bull in position 18.
Lewis Hamilton who is the eight-time Hungaroring winner, finished 16th for Mercedes while George Russell finished 20th. However, none of the two Mercedes drivers used the soft compound during the session; instead, they both focused on heavy-fuel runs.
During the session, nine drivers completed at least 30 laps over an hour, with only six drivers not covering more than 25 laps.
2023 Hungarian Grand Prix FP2 Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:17.686 | 20 | |
| 2 | 4 | Lando Norris | Mclaren Mercedes | 1:17.701 | +0.015s | 29 |
| 3 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | 1:17.918 | +0.232s | 25 |
| 4 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Alphatauri Honda Rbpt | 1:17.934 | +0.248s | 30 |
| 5 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 1:18.045 | +0.359s | 29 |
| 6 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas Ferrari | 1:18.058 | +0.372s | 28 |
| 7 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo Ferrari | 1:18.085 | +0.399s | 28 |
| 8 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:18.105 | +0.419s | 31 |
| 9 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo Ferrari | 1:18.108 | +0.422s | 30 |
| 10 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:18.182 | +0.496s | 19 |
| 11 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda Rbpt | 1:18.279 | +0.593s | 17 |
| 12 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:18.319 | +0.633s | 32 |
| 13 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | 1:18.377 | +0.691s | 32 |
| 14 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Alphatauri Honda Rbpt | 1:18.385 | +0.699s | 29 |
| 15 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 1:18.504 | +0.818s | 26 |
| 16 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:18.746 | +1.060s | 27 |
| 17 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams Mercedes | 1:18.836 | +1.150s | 29 |
| 18 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda Rbpt | 1:18.978 | +1.292s | 13 |
| 19 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | Mclaren Mercedes | 1:19.117 | +1.431s | 18 |
| 20 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:19.175 | +1.489s | 22 |
