Lando Norris edged out championship rival Oscar Piastri in opening practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Norris trails Piastri by 16 points heading into Sunday’s round at the Hungaroring – the final race before the summer break.
But the British driver laid down an early marker in the first running of the weekend when he beat Piastri to top spot by just 0.019 seconds.
Charles Leclerc finished third for Ferrari, two tenths off the pace, but two places clear of teammate Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time world champion, who has a record eight wins and nine pole positions in Hungary, finished four tenths behind Leclerc.
Hamilton complained his car didn’t “feel good” and ran off the road at the first corner following a major lock-up. RB’s Isack Hadjar split the Ferrari drivers with British rookie Ollie Bearman sixth for Haas.
George Russell ended the running in eighth, one position clear of four-time world champion Max Verstappen – who on Thursday ended speculation he could leave Red Bull at the end of the year by committing his future there for at least another season.
Norris’ world championship bid suffered a setback at last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix when Piastri overtook him on the first racing lap and went on to claim a comfortable win.
However, it was Norris – who has never been out-qualified by a teammate in six previous visits to the Hungaroring – that stole an early advantage at a circuit he has declared among his favourites on the calendar.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli is in the midst of a poor run of form – scoring just once in his last seven appearances – but he will take some encouragement from finishing in seventh, half-a-tenth clear of team-mate Russell.
Fernando Alonso was absent from first practice with a back injury. Aston Martin are waiting to see if the 44-year-old will be fit enough to contest the rest of the weekend.
