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Verstappen changes gearbox: this was Friday in Hungary

Verstappen changes gearbox: this was Friday in Hungary

30-07-2021 22:36

GPblog.com

It was an exciting Friday. There were two free practices, Verstappen and Hamilton drove on the same track for the first time since Silvestone and Tsunoda parked his car in the wall. A summary of Friday.

Verstappen and Hamilton back on track

It was the first time since the incident at Silverstone that both drivers, who have already called and spoken to each other, met again on the same track. It was refreshing after all the verbal fighting off the track and the review that was rejected by the FIA yesterday.

It was a close call in the pit stop for a while, but overall it was nothing special. Both drivers did their thing and drove their laps to collect important data for qualifying and the race.

Mercedes faster at the long runs?

Based on the free practice sessions it seems so. The gap was three tenths, which is considerable on this circuit. Still, we have to put this in perspective. Honda has deliberately reduced the power unit Verstappen uses, the power unit the Dutchman crashed with two weeks ago, to see if it performs well. This turned out to be the case.

So despite the fact that the Mercedes car seems to be able to withstand the heat, it remains to be seen whether this will still be the case when Honda increases the power again. Verstappen did change his gearbox, just like Vettel.

Tsunoda parks car in the wall

Not what you want to see. It's not the young Japanese driver's season yet anyway. He parked his car outside the track during the first free practice session, while he was unable to take part in the second free practice session for the majority of the session. A poor Friday for the young driver from AlphaTauri, who saw teammate Pierre Gasly have a good day.