Lewis Hamilton fastest as Max Verstappen bemoans 'no f***ing grip'

Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Spanish GP, Spain, 2023 — Photo: © LAT Images

Hungarian Grand Prix

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Hamilton fastest as Verstappen bemoans 'no f***ing grip'

Lewis Hamilton topped the timing sheets in FP3 but Max Verstappen encountered problems

Harry Smith

Saturday 22 July 2023 13:42 Updated: 19:02

Lewis Hamilton was the fastest man on track during FP3 as rival Max Verstappen complained of issues with his RB19.

The Dutch driver was unsettled over the radio, complaining that there was "No f***ing grip, it's unbelievable", having previously complained about rear instability.

Fans were treated to an old-school Hamilton vs Verstappen showdown at the end of FP3 with the duo battling for the fastest lap of the session with just ten minutes remaining.

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Hamilton punched in a time of 1:17.811 to go fastest ahead of Lando Norris before Verstappen attempted to wrestle the top spot back from the seven-time world champion.

Verstappen went fastest through the first sector but couldn't find time in the other two-thirds of the lap. Crossing the line, the Dutchman was 0.250s down on Hamilton.

Further down the order, Sergio Perez finished P3, while Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg snuck his way into P4 near the end of the session.

Ferrari, who weren't in the conversation until the final ten minutes of the session, finished P7 and P8 with Charles Leclerc the faster of their two drivers.

The drama didn't stop until right at the chequered flag though, with Daniel Ricciardo narrowly avoiding a collision with Zhou Guanyu at the apex of turn one after coming out of the pit lane.

Thankfully the two drivers avoided contact and FP3 ended without any yellow flags.

No early nerves for Checo

Tensions ran high in the Red Bull garage on Friday afternoon after Sergio Perez crashed his RB19 into the tyre barrier on his first lap of FP1.

The Mexican driver, who is already under immense pressure following the return of Daniel Ricciardo, saw his weekend get off to the worst possible start.

Those struggles were then exacerbated in FP2 when Checo suffered a major lock-up, writing off a fresh set of soft compound tyres.

With a dismal Friday behind him, Checo headed into FP3 hoping for a steady, calm session, and it got off to exactly that start.

The 33-year-old pumped in a 1:18.558 lap time during the opening stages of the session, slotting into P2 in the order, less than a tenth behind Red Bull team-mate Verstappen.

Early promise for Alpine

The build-up to the Hungarian Grand Prix brought plenty of drama for Alpine.

F1's all-French outfit experienced a swap at the top end of their business with CEO Laurent Rossi moved aside with Philippe Krief taking up his position.

Changes off the track were met by positive changes on the track in FP2 with Pierre Gasly pumping in the third-fastest time of the session, and that momentum transferred to FP3.

Alpine have happy memories of the Hungarian Grand Prix

With a quarter of the session in the bank, Esteban Ocon occupied P3 with his team-mate Gasly following him across the line in P4 following an impressive run on the soft compound tyres.

Those laps saw them post faster times than both Aston Martin and Williams on the same compound with only the two Red Bull drivers

No false dawn for McLaren

Much of the speculation heading into the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend surrounded the pace of McLaren.

The Woking-based team were the second-fastest team at Silverstone a couple of weeks ago with Lando Norris finishing P2 and Oscar Piastri recording a career-best P4 finish.

McLaren turned in an immense performance at Silverstone last time out

Heading to Hungary, fans wondered whether or not McLaren's British Grand Prix pace was a flash in the pan, but that clearly is not the case.

With less than 15 minutes left of the FP3 session, Norris pumped in the fastest time of the session with a 1:18.082. More impressively, that time was set on the medium compound tyre.

Piastri also showed some pace on an early run on the medium tyres, hinting that McLaren's pace is there to stay ahead of qualifying this afternoon.