Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc offered up hope that Ferrari has rediscovered its missing form, although it was Max Verstappen who posted an ominous warning for the rest of the field at the end of first practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Since Leclerc’s victory on home soil in Monaco at the end of May, Ferrari’s performance has fallen off a cliff, notably following the introduction of an upgrade package at the Spanish Grand Prix that made its car worse.
For this race weekend, the Scuderia has introduced a revised floor to its SF-24s, and the first impression is that there appears to be an improvement as Sainz finished the hour-long run in blistering heat with the quickest lap time of 1:18.713s around the tight, twisty Hungaroring circuit.
Team-mate Leclerc finished three-tenths of a second adrift in third, with Verstappen second quickest, 0.276s off the pace in an RB20 sporting an upgrade package for this weekend, one the three-time F1 champion described as “crucial” in the build-up.
Ominously, that lap was set on used softs, suggesting there is considerable margin in hand, albeit with the obvious caveats surrounding FP1 performance.
In contrast, under-pressure team-mate Sergio Perez was without the most dynamic part of the update, notably the sidepods/engine cover, leaving the Mexican 11th quickest, 0.727s back.
The temperatures were the hottest of the year, with the air hitting 31.5 Celsius and the track reaching a searing 59.2 at one stage, naturally eating into tyre wear, particularly on the softs
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