Aston Martin's upgraded AMR26
Aston Martin's upgraded AMR26

F1 Hungary LIVE: Reaction after Ferrari dominate on Friday

Live coverage of Friday at the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix

KEY MOMENTS

  • Aston Martin bring 16 updates to Hungary
  • Stroll stops after suspension failure
  • Leclerc fastest in FP1

The tenth round of the 2026 Formula 1 season takes place at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

A modern classic, the Hungaroring is often described as Monaco without the walls, due to its tight and twisty nature.

As the championship reaches the summer shutdown, all eyes are on Aston Martin, with the team bringing a significant 16-part upgrade, which is hoped to at least allow the team to race with fellow backmarker teams.

McLaren brings its 'Macarena' wing to trial for the first time after electing not to run the device in Austria, while Ferrari has brought an updated version of its own device.

Mercedes will hope to find answers regarding its power unit, after multiple drivers, including George Russell and Oscar Piastri, were less than complimentary about the energy deployment and self-learning systems across the Belgium weekend.

2026 Hungarian Grand Prix Friday schedule

FP1 12:30pm BST - 1:30pm BST

FP2: 4:00pm BST - 5:00pm BST

24 Jul 2026
13:18
Aston Martin explanation

Aston Martin has confirmed that Stroll's exit was caused by a "suspected left-rear suspension failure". 

13:17

P12 for Alonso on his first soft tyre effort. A 1m21.550s puts him 2.475s off the pace. Given where Aston Martin had been, that's a marked step up. 

13:16

It wasn't a comfortable ride for Stroll as his session came to an end. 

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13:15
Green Flag

With Stroll's Aston Martin cleared, the session resumes. Alonso has returned to the track on soft tyres, which will give a first indication of the team's pace compared to the rest of the field. 

13:11

Back in the garage, Hamilton is concerned about both his upshifts and downshifts. He's third fastest at the moment, but is around half-a-second behind team-mate Leclerc. 

13:10

Stroll parked by the side of the track. On the pit wall, Newey looks very concerned. 

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13:10

That was a huge one for Stroll. On the way out of Turn 3, what looks like a suspension failure on the rear left pitched Stroll into a spin. To be fair to the Canadian, he did very well to keep it out of the wall there. 

A big moment of concern for Aston Martin. 

13:07
RED FLAG

A red flag has been thrown as Stroll stops on the track. He reports a suspension failure. 

13:06

That's a set of soft tyres in the bin for Russell, as he suffers a heavy lock-up into Turn 1 and slides into the run-off. He'll be glad the gravel was removed from that area of the track some years back. 

13:04

Leclerc is going purple through sector one, sector two, and he looks on to better Verstappen's session-best effort. 

A purple final sector completes the set and his 1m19.075s effort is 0.484s up on Verstappen. That's an early statement and a half!

13:03

A lot of work is taking place on Sainz's Williams. Reports are that it is only a setup change, but he's lost around 20 minutes of running so far. 

13:02

Aron has a 'Hamilton' moment at the final corner, as he has a double slide at the final corner. That looked as though it could have gone very wrong there! 

13:01

Slipping down the order, Aston Martin is spending time on the hard tyres rather than chasing soft tyre pace, so there are no concerns right now. 

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13:00

Verstappen now goes fastest. The first driver under the 80s marker, he puts in a 1m19.559s effort. 

12:59

Finding time later in the lap, Russell moves to the top of the order with a 1m20.066s. On softs also, Norris has backed off and gone into the pits. He was up on the Mercedes at that point. 

12:58

With the 'Macarena wing', Fornaroli is in 11th place for McLaren, little over one tenth behind team-mate Norris. An impressive effort from the rookie. But here come some soft tyre runs. 

12:57

As we approach the halfway point of the session, the top 10 are:

  1. Leclerc
  2. Hamilton
  3. Verstappen
  4. Russell
  5. Bortoleto
  6. Lawson
  7. Hulkenberg
  8. Hadjar
  9. Lindblad
  10. Norris
12:47

We said not to draw conclusions on Aston Martin after FP1, but the initial signs are at least positive, with Alonso and Stroll P12 and 13. 

12:45

On Verstappen, both he and Sainz have been noted for driving erratically in the moment of blocking and the subsequent reaction. 

12:42

"Downshifts are horrendous and the car is jumping like crazy." Another bingo card regular complaint from Verstappen. He goes top regardless with a 1m20.788s.

12:39

A huge slide from Hamilton at the final corner. He got out onto the marbles slightly, and the rear called enough. Fortunately for the Ferrari man, he was able to hold the slide and survive without any further incident. 

12:38

The times are already falling to a 1m20.884s with Leclerc, as Sainz reports that he had no radio in the moment with Verstappen. 

12:37

Verstappen slows to a crawl through the final sector after being badly blocked by Sainz. Drivers will need to be very careful about blocking as the weekend progresses. 

12:36

With their first efforts, Stroll and Alonso both put in times in the mid-1m24s bracket. We'll put this out there now, drawing any conclusions on the new Aston Martin would be unwise after FP1. The team will have a set plan, and outright pace is unlikely to be on the agenda before qualifying. 

12:34

Ryo Hirakawa puts in the first time of the session but it's far from representitive. Leclerc is 12 seconds clear of that effort with a 1m22.705s. 

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