Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo clocked the quickest time during the opening practice session for Formula 1’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Ricciardo posted a lap of 1:17.613 on Soft tyres to wind up 0.079s clear of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who utilised Ultrasofts on his best effort.
Ricciardo’s time came on his second push lap on a set of Soft tyres after his first attempt was scuppered by traffic, a problem that befell several of the front-runners.
Max Verstappen employed the same tyre compound as his Red Bull team-mate to finish third, just 0.088s behind Ricciardo, having earlier spun through Turn 1, while Kimi Raikkonen was fourth for Ferrari.
Raikkonen, as with Vettel, used the Ultrasoft tyres for his quickest lap, and returned to the pit lane during the closing moments amid a suspected brake issue.
Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas finished fifth and sixth respectively, the title leader 0.423s behind Ricciardo and his team-mate eight-tenths down.
Romain Grosjean recovered from a leak in his Haas VF-18 to lead the midfield group in seventh, in front of Renault pair Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jr.
Hulkenberg’s session was truncated when his car switched off as he rounded Turn 4 and he coasted around before stopping at the exit of Turn 5.
Haas’ Kevin Magnussen rounded out the top 10, while Fernando Alonso split Toro Rosso pair Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley, the latter spinning through the final corner in the last minutes of action.
Lance Stroll was 14th for Williams, while Force India had a low-key session as Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez finished only 15th and 17th.
The Force India duo sandwiched McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne, running a different chassis to the last two Grands Prix in a bid to alleviate his mysterious downforce deficit.
Antonio Giovinazzi returned to Sauber’s C37, this time in place of Charles Leclerc, and was 18th, 2.6s off the pace, fractionally clear of Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin.
Marcus Ericsson finished at the rear of the field, three seconds adrift of Ricciardo, after a scrappy session, half-spinning at the entry to the final corner prior to a more dramatic spin exiting Turn 4.
Ericsson narrowly avoided making contact with the outside barriers but took no further part upon returning to the pits due to suspected floor damage.
