Hamilton fastest in Hungary practice

Mercedes driver led Red Bull’s Kyvat in second session.

BUDAPEST: Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton topped the times ahead of Daniil Kvyat of Red Bull in Friday’s second free practice session ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

In searing heat, the 30-year-old Briton, who is seeking a record fifth Formula One win on one of his favourite circuits, recorded a best lap time of one minute and 23.949 seconds to outpace the Russian by 0.351 seconds.

Kvyat’s lap was an endorsement of Red Bull’s improved showing on the tight, twisty and technical circuit that suited their car.

His teammate, Australian Daniel Ricciardo, was half a second adrift to take third ahead of Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, who struggled to find his usual pace in fourth place.

Ricciardo’s strong performance came in a session that saw him pull off the track with plumes of white smoke pouring from the rear of his car after an apparent engine failure. The incident caused the session to be red-flagged and halted briefly while the car was cleared out of the way.

Kimi Raikkonen, who had caused a red-flag interruption in the morning session when the front wing of his car fell off, was fifth fastest for Ferrari.

The day had started with a dramatic morning session that, in addition to Raikkonen’s incident, saw Mexican Sergio Perez of Force India survive unhurt and walk away from a spectacular crash.

The team withdrew him and teammate German Nico Hulkenberg from the second practice session. 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th,  2015.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.