Mercedes one-two as "understeery" Max Verstappen off the pace in Hungary

Hamilton, Bottas, Mercedes, Hungary — Photo: © LAT Images

Hungarian Grand Prix

Mercedes one-two as "understeery" Verstappen off the pace in Hungary

Valtteri Bottas edged Lewis Hamilton by just 0.027s

Ian Parkes

Friday 30 July 2021 16:02 Updated: 18:01

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Valtteri Bottas edged a Mercedes one-two in second practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix as an "understeery" Max Verstappen was left trailing.

Following the furore of what unfolded during and after the British Grand Prix, it was back to business for Verstappen and Hamilton at the Hungaroring.

Red Bull driver Verstappen was marginally quickest in first practice from Bottas, with Hamilton third as the trio left the field in its wake in sweltering conditions.

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Come the second hour-long run, as temperatures rose to 33 degrees centigrade and with a high of 62 for the track, Bottas emerged with the upper hand, posting a time of one minute 17.012secs, with Hamilton just 0.027s adrift.

After watching the Mercedes pair set the pace in the early qualifying simulations, Verstappen found himself three-tenths of second off the pace after his own soft-tyre run.

It resulted in him reporting back to the team that his RB16B was "understeery", a problem he will hope can be solved ahead of qualifying as a track that was predicted to suit Red Bull is so far edging towards Mercedes.

Switching to the medium-compound longer run, Verstappen continued his complaints, at one stage being forced to pit for a front-wing adjustment as he attempted to dial out his issues with the car.

As was the case in FP1, the nearest challenger to the leading trio was considerably adrift, with Alpine's Esteban Ocon carrying the 'best-of-the-rest' tag, albeit three-quarters-of-a-second behind Bottas.

With Red Bull needing Sergio Perez to force his way into the mix, the Mexican was fifth quickest, albeit half-a-second shy of team-mate Verstappen.

AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly and Fernando Alonso in his Alpine continued their strong form from FP1 as they finished sixth and seventh on the timesheet, albeit both just over a full second down.

Aston Martin duo Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll then sandwiched Lando Norris in his McLaren to complete the top 10, with the Canadian 1.308s adrift.

Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were 11th and 12th, positions they may find welcome for the race as they would have a free tyre choice, a position it is felt a number of teams are keen on given the heat and degradation of the soft rubber.

McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo could only manage 13th ahead of Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen, with Williams pair George Russell and Nicholas Latifi 15th and 16th, the latter 2.5s down.

AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda, who careered backwards into a barrier at turn four in FP1, managed to take to the track with just two minutes of FP2 remaining following major repairs.

Managing to conduct one flying lap on soft tyres, Tsunoda slotted into 17th position, 2.659s behind Bottas.

Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin then finished either side of Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi in the final three places, the latter completing a full session after mechanical issues confined him to the garage for all but five laps in FP1.