BREAKING NEWS: The Verstappen fires warning shot as Ferrari regains hope.

There were numerous changes on display at the Hungaroring, with Red Bull flaunting a significant package and Ferrari making a critical adjustment.

Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc expressed hope that Ferrari had found its lost form, but it was Max Verstappen who issued an unsettling warning to the rest of the field at the end of the first practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Ferrari’s performance has plummeted since Leclerc’s home triumph in Monaco at the end of May, particularly after the introduction of an upgrade package at the Spanish Grand Prix that made its car worse.

For this race weekend, the Scuderia has introduced a revised floor to its SF-24s, and the first impression is that there appears to be an improvement as Sainz finished the hour-long run in blistering heat with the quickest lap time of 1:18.713s around the tight, twisty Hungaroring circuit.

Team-mate Leclerc finished three-tenths of a second adrift in third, with Verstappen second quickest, 0.276s off the pace in an RB20 sporting an upgrade package for this weekend, one the three-time F1 champion described as “crucial” in the build-up.

Ominously, that lap was set on used softs, implying a significant lead, albeit with the obvious constraints of FP1 performance.

In contrast, under-pressure teammate Sergio Perez was missing the most dynamic aspect of the modification, namely the sidepods/engine cover, leaving the Mexican 11th fastest, 0.727s behind. The temperatures were the highest of the year, with the air reaching 31.5 degrees Celsius and the track reaching 59.2 at one point, causing tyre wear, particularly on the softs.

Verstappen only uses softs

Opting for an early run on softs, compared to the majority of his rivals on mediums, Verstappen unsurprisingly set the early pace with a lap of 1:20.715s. After a cool down, the three-time F1 champion shaved off nine-tenths of a second to post 1:19.831s.

Verstappen was on course to go even quicker on his third push lap after posting purple times in the first and second sectors, only to lose time in the final sector to fall short of his leading run

Behind the Dutch driver over the early exchanges was Mercedes’ George Russell, 0.252s adrift, followed by the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Verstappen was overtaken halfway through the session when the soft tyres took control, first by Williams’ Alex Albon with a 1:19.794s before Russell blitzed that by more than six-tenths of a second, followed by Hamilton, 0.150s behind.

Norris quickly split the Mercedes pair, finishing 0.074s behind Russell, before Ferrari showed their hand in this session, with Leclerc and then Sainz going quickest, the latter becoming the first to fall below 79 seconds with a lap of 1:18.713s.

When Verstappen resumed his soft-tyre running after a lull, and with track conditions more ideal compared to his earlier laps, the 26-year-old netted his second spot behind Sainz. As mentioned, the good news for Red Bull was that his time was on a used set.

Additionally, Verstappen only used soft tyres throughout the 60-minute session.

Russell eventually finished fourth, followed by Stake’s Zhou Guanyu, which was surprising given that his car lacked the significant upgrade package of teammate Valtteri Bottas’ car.

The Finn finished 1.1 seconds behind the Chinese driver, despite likely having different run plans. Norris and Piastri finished sixth and seventh, respectively, followed by Yuki Tsunoda, Lance Stroll in his Aston Martin, and Hamilton.

Stroll, like Stake, was racing an older-spec car compared to teammate Fernando Alonso, whose AMR24 had received numerous improvements.

The two-time Formula One champion, however, finished 13th on the timesheet.

Splitting Perez and Alonso in 12th was RB’s Daniel Ricciardo. Albon dropped to 14th after his early pace-setting lap.

Kevin Magnussen, who will leave Haas at the end of the season, bemoaned his car’s brakes early on and finished 19th, 1.582s down. Only team-mate Oliver Bearman, standing in for Nico Hulkenberg, and in his fourth FP1 session this year, was slower by just under a tenth to the Dane.

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