The return of Robert Kubica dominated a busy second and final day of testing at the Hungaroring, as Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets for Ferrari.
The Pole completed his first running in the 2017 Renault in the next stage of his evaluation ahead of a possible return to Formula 1 next year and would impress, covering two full race distances with 142 laps.
He would set the fourth fastest time on the day as well with a best of 1:18.572s on the ultrasoft tyres, one tenth shy of the qualifying time set by Jolyon Palmer, the man many believe Kubica could replace, albeit on a softer compound than the Briton used.
Amid the buzz, with much of the main grandstand full to see the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix winner drive, Ferrari quietly topped the times for the second straight day with their two race drivers splitting duties.
Vettel completed a solid 40 laps in the morning with a best of 1:17.124s which was almost a second slower than his pole time for the Grand Prix but still enough to be quickest overall with teammate Kimi Raikkonen third on the timesheets with 60 laps in the afternoon.
In between, was current European F3 racer Lando Norris completing his first test run with McLaren. The 17-year-old Briton was highly impressive with a best of 1:17.385s, a time faster than both Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne achieved in qualifying as he ran the ultrasoft tyres. He would also complete 91 laps on the day as Honda enjoyed a trouble-free day.
Like Ferrari, Toro Rosso also gave their two race drivers some final running before the summer break. Carlos Sainz would lead Daniil Kvyat as they finished fifth and sixth respectively with a combined 121 laps of the Hungaroring.
Force India retained their lineup from Tuesday but it would DTM driver Lucas Auer who would lead Russian European F3’s Nikita Mazepin, as the Austrian gained 1.2 seconds on his best time from Day 1 to finish seventh, compared to just six-tenths improvement from the Russian as he claimed ninth.
GP3 championship leader George Russell also remained in the Mercedes adding another 91 laps as he tested an updated Halo system on the W08.
Pierre Gasly got a rare chance in the Red Bull, running 107 laps on an improved day reliability wise for the Renault-powered teams. The last GP2 champion was 10th quickest overall.
Three of the current F2 grid would complete the timings with Russian Time’s Luca Ghiotto 11th for Williams, tallying up the most laps of anyone with 161. Santino Ferrucci, who made his F2 debut with Trident last weekend in Budapest was 12th as he continued his Haas development driver role.
Finally, sprint race winner at the Hungaroring and ART Grand Prix driver Nobuhara Matsushita enjoyed his first F1 experience but would over a second down on the rest of the field in 13th in the Sauber.
