George Russell led a wet Practice 1 at the Hungarian Grand Prix after Sergio Perez crashed out in the opening minutes.
The opening hour of running began in dry conditions as drivers hurried out to complete some running before the expected rain arrived.
However, Perez ensured no one would manage that by hitting the barriers at Turn 5 during his out lap after touching the grass on entry in his Red Bull.
Sergio Perez clips the grass and his FP1 ends in the barriers ?#HungarianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/2sWABZXYQl
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 21, 2023
The incident couldn’t have come at a worse moment for the Mexican, who is on a five-race run of failing to reach Q3 in qualifying and now has Daniel Ricciardo aiming for his seat after returning at AlphaTauri.
Rain would begin to fall during the ensuing red flag period leaving the circuit too damp for slicks but too dry for intermediates.
A heavier downpour soaked the track enough to encourage some running on the wet tyres, only for Carlos Sainz to cause a second red flag by spinning and beaching his car on the kerb exiting Turn 3.
Sainz bumped the barriers is now beached on a kerb ?#HungarianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/h5apeegGle
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 21, 2023
Eventually, some lap times would be set initially by the two Williams’ and Valtteri Bottas.
In the final minutes, Russell and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri traded fastest times, with the Mercedes driver finishing four-tenths ahead on a 1m38.795s.
Lance Stroll took third in the Aston Martin, followed by Lando Norris in the second McLaren in fourth.
Fernando Alonso was fifth, Bottas claimed sixth, with Charles Leclerc stuck in an Alfa Romeo sandwich in P7 ahead of Zhou Guanyu.
Logan Sargeant claimed ninth, and Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10 for Haas.
Kevin Magnussen sat 11th, Yuki Tsunoda also brushed the Turn 5 wall en route to P12, and Alex Albon was the last driver to set a time in 13th.
After 243 days away, the Honey Badger returns to the track #HungarianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/zxkC6XC6no
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 21, 2023
Daniel Ricciardo only did seven out laps in his first session for AlphaTauri. Sainz, Perez, the two Alpines, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton brought up the timesheet.