Hungarian Grand Prix F1: Perez’s Crash Precedes Rainfall during the Initial Practice Session

Sergio Perez, in his RB19, experienced an early crash two minutes into the practice session, even before a time was set. This happened when he swerved his car’s left rear tyre onto the external grassy section around the elongated right-hand curve of Turn 5.

A full circle spin ensued, causing the car to ram into the outer wall. The impact resulted in significant damage to the car’s upgraded sidepods on the left, along with both front corners.

Following the accident, an eight-minute interruption was induced by red flags to facilitate the recovery of the Red Bull. However, returning to the track, the drivers found conditions had deteriorated due to the onset of rainfall.

Kevin Magnussen was expected to clock the first timed lap using medium tyres. However, as he approached the final bends under heavy rain, he encountered Valtteri Bottas recovering from a spin in his Alfa Romeo, leading to all cars heading back to the pits.

The consequent pause in activity was extensive. Charles Leclerc and the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri ventured onto the track just before the halfway mark, as the rainfall intensified.

Piastri experienced a major skid while exiting the high-speed left curve of Turn 4 in the first sector. This led to a quick return to the pits by both McLarens and Magnussen.

Despite Norris’ disagreement with the decision to pit at this stage, with just over 25 minutes left, he joined his team-mate in the pits. Meanwhile, Pierre Gasly also completed a single round on the intermediate tyres.

With 20 minutes remaining, Bottas returned to the track, describing the conditions as “drivable”. He attempted the first flying lap of the session, much to the delight of the spectators lining the pit straight.

Bottas set the initial benchmark at 1m47.787s, significantly slower than what would usually be expected in FP1. Following his lead, several cars joined the track, with Williams’ pair clocking their first timed laps. Albon and Logan Sargeant posted times of 1m47.407s and 1m46.838s respectively, moving Sargeant to first place.

A second halt occurred after Carlos Sainz spun into a wall while trying to accelerate on a short straight, causing minor damage to his Ferrari’s left-side corners.

George Russell, driving the Mercedes F1 W14, attempted to continue but ended up stranded on a kerb and had to be assisted by marshals. Damage to Sainz’s car was confirmed when the left-side endplate of his front wing was found to be dislodged.

The practice session resumed with 11 minutes remaining. Despite some drivers, including Max Verstappen and Hamilton, choosing not to rejoin, the session ended without their times on record.

Russell set a 1m40.44s with two minutes left, but was outpaced by Piastri’s 1m39.906s, only to reclaim the top spot before the session ended.

Piastri finished his final lap in 1m39.154s, but Russell clocked in a 1m38.795s time, securing the session’s best time, two minutes after the chequered flag was displayed.

Lance Stroll finished third, followed by Norris, who pushed Alonso down to fifth. Bottas and Leclerc were followed by Zhou Guanyu, who managed to secure the eighth position after resolving an electrical energy deployment issue in his car.

Sargeant and Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top 10, with Magnussen in 11th and Yuki Tsunoda in 12th place. Tsunoda experienced an unknown issue causing damage to his car’s front wing and had to return to the pits. Alex Albon finished 13th as the final driver to record a time, a list that didn’t include Daniel Ricciardo, who returned to F1 in the other AlphaTauri.

Below are the full results:

1. George Russell – Mercedes – 1’38.795
2. Oscar Piastri – McLaren – +0.359
3. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin Racing – +1.218
4. Lando Norris – McLaren – +1.482
5. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin Racing – +1.892
6. Valtteri Bottas – Alfa Romeo – +2.237
7. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari – +2.347
8. Zhou Guanyu – Alfa Romeo – +2.568
9. Logan Sargeant – Williams – +2.621
10. Nico Hulkenberg – Haas F1 Team – +3.911
11. Kevin Magnussen – Haas F1 Team – +4.111
12. Yuki Tsunoda – AlphaTauri – +6.780
13. Alex Albon – Williams – +8.612
14. Daniel Ricciardo – AlphaTauri – N/A
15. Carlos Sainz – Ferrari – N/A
16. Sergio Perez – Red Bull Racing – N/A
17. Esteban Ocon – Alpine – N/A
18. Pierre Gasly – Alpine – N/A
19. Max Verstappen – Red Bull Racing – N/A
20. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – N/A

To view complete results, [click here].

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More about Hungarian GP F1 Practice Crash

• “Hungarian GP: Perez crashes before rain hits first practice” (source: Autosport)
• “Hungarian GP F1 Practice Results” (source: Formula 1 website)
• “George Russell sets fastest time in rain-affected first practice” (source: The Guardian)
• “F1 Hungarian Grand Prix 2023 – Practice 1 Results” (source: Crash.net)
• “Sergio Perez’s early crash in Hungarian GP Practice 1” (source: ESPN)