F1 Today | Ferrari sends statement to rivals as Aston Martin debuts major aero package

Ferrari ended Friday as the team to beat at the Hungarian Grand Prix after backing up its strong FP1 showing with a dominant display in the second practice session. Having finished first and third in the morning, the Scuderia stepped up another level in the afternoon, with Lewis Hamilton leading teammate Charles Leclerc in a commanding one-two. Both drivers looked comfortable from the outset, and after switching to the soft tyres they were the only two to break into the 1:18s.

The rest of the field was left chasing. Lando Norris finished third but more than half a second behind Hamilton, while Red Bull endured another difficult session, with Max Verstappen ending the afternoon nearly seven tenths off the pace and both he and the team admitting the RB22 is still lacking balance. Aston Martin also suffered a setback, as Lance Stroll missed the session after the team failed to repair his car following his FP1 suspension failure.

The session was briefly halted by a red flag after Franco Colapinto crashed heavily at the final corner, bringing proceedings to a temporary stop while his Alpine was recovered. Once the action resumed, the drivers completed their qualifying simulations before turning their attention to long runs, where Ferrari once again looked very competitive, strengthening its status as the early favourite for the remainder of the weekend.

Aston Martin also attracted plenty of attention after introducing its biggest upgrade package of the season at the Hungaroring, bringing a total of 16 new components. The Silverstone-based team made changes to the front wing, front wing endplate, nose, front corner, floor body, fences and floor edge, diffuser, sidepod inlet, engine cover, cooling louvres, rear suspension, rear corner, rear wing, beam wing and rear wing endplate.

The upgrades appeared to deliver an immediate step forward in both outright pace and competitiveness, with Fernando Alonso finishing 13th in FP1 before ending 19th in FP2 after focusing on longer runs, while Lance Stroll missed the afternoon session altogether after the team was unable to repair his AMR26 following a rear-suspension failure in the opening practice.