Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finishes fastest in opening practice session in Hungary

Carlos Sainz provided hope of a Ferrari resurgence after he finished fastest in opening practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Scuderia have gone off the boil in recent races, but a revised floor – introduced for the 13th round of the campaign here at the Hungaroring – propelled Sainz to the top of the time sheets.

The Spaniard finished 0.276 seconds clear of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc third, one place ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell. Lewis Hamilton ended the first running of the weekend in 10th.

Following Leclerc’s triumph on the streets of Monaco in May, Ferrari have been usurped by McLaren and Mercedes in the pecking order.

However, the slow-speed Hungaroring circuit appears better suited to the scarlet machinery with Sainz and Leclerc first and third.

Verstappen’s dominance of Formula One appears close to expiration. The Dutchman won five of the opening seven rounds to indicate he would race to his fourth world championship in as many years.

But Verstappen has won just two of the last five races. However, the triple world champion is armed with a significant upgrade package on his Red Bull in Hungary, and although he finished second to Sainz, the early signs will be encouraging for the Dutchman and his team.

Mercedes are hoping to land a hat-trick of victories, but Russell finished four tenths back, with Hamilton – who finally ended his 945-day winless streak at Silverstone a fortnight ago – 0.574 sec off the pace.

Elsewhere, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finished sixth and seventh respectively for McLaren. British teenager Ollie Bearman was handed another practice run-out for Haas ahead of his full debut for the American team next year. The 19-year-old finished 20th and last, 1.6 sec behind Sainz.

The second practice session gets under way at 1700 (1600 BST).