Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

USA

Giovinazzi tops first morning of Hungary test for Ferrari

Antonio Giovinazzi set the pace for Ferrari on the opening morning of Formula 1’s post-Hungarian Grand Prix test.

Antonio Giovinazzi, Ferrari SF71H

Antonio Giovinazzi, Ferrari SF71H

Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

Antonio Giovinazzi, Ferrari SF71H
Antonio Giovinazzi, Ferrari SF71H
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL33
George Russell, Mercedes AMG F1 W09
Sean Gelael, Toro Rosso STR13
Nicholas Latifi, Force India VJM11
Nico Hulkenberg, Renault Sport F1 Team R.S. 18

The Italian driver, who appeared for Sauber in first practice at the Hungaroring last Friday, clocked a 1m19.648s on soft tyres in the third hour of running.

That was more than three seconds slower than the fastest time through the race weekend, a 1m16.170s set by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in FP3, as Tuesday’s drivers went about their test programmes.

Giovinazzi usurped McLaren’s Lando Norris at the top of the times and the Formula 2 title contender finished the morning second.

Norris was 0.318s slower on a 1m19.966s, set on medium tyres one and a half hours into the session.

Force India driver Nicholas Latifi completed the top three and was the last man to squeeze below the 1m20s mark, eventually posting a 1m19.994s after a series of improvements over the morning on softs.

At the start of the day Latifi was one of three drivers to trial an experimental front wing built to F1’s 2019 regulations.

He completed a multi-lap run with the front wing, while Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Williams tester Oliver Rowland stuck to out-laps with their respective teams’ designs.

The soft tyre was the preferred option for most drivers, with Marcus Ericsson fourth for Sauber on a 1m20.081s and Brendon Hartley fifth less than a tenth slower.

F2 championship leader George Russell had a quiet start with Mercedes before ending up sixth-fastest.

He did not post a representative time in the first two hours and his lap count remained low, before he emerged and climbed to sixth on a 1m20.231s, albeit with only 21 laps completed – half the next-worst tally.

Ricciardo was next up for Red Bull on a 1m20.304s set on softs, ahead of Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg (softs), Rowland (mediums) and Pirelli tyre tester Sean Gelael in the second Toro Rosso.

Session results:

Pos. Driver Team Engine Laps Time Gap
1 Antonio Giovinazzi Ferrari Ferrari 66 1:19.648  
2 Lando Norris McLaren Renault 46 1:19.966 0.318
3 Nicholas Latifi Force India Mercedes 66 1:19.994 0.346
4 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 63 1:20.081 0.433
5 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso Honda 94 1:20.151 0.503
6 George Russell Mercedes Mercedes 21 1:20.231 0.583
7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull TAG 76 1:20.304 0.656
8 Nico Hulkenberg Renault Renault 63 1:20.826 1.178
9 Oliver Rowland Williams Mercedes 43 1:21.594 1.946
10 Sean Gelael Toro Rosso Honda 68 1:21.861 2.213

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Red Bull junior Ticktum's test absence a legacy of racing ban
Next article Why Key could face an impossible task at McLaren

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

USA