Free Practice 1: Kovalainen on top, Toro Rosso flops in Hungary

The Formula 1 caravan stops for a few days in Eastern Europe, in Hungary, where Free Practice 1 took place this morning at the Hungaroring circuit. Heikki Kovalainen for the McLaren team comes out as the winner of the first round. He is ahead of Nico Rosberg (Williams) and his teammate Lewis Hamilton (McLaren). Despite a significant update and many laps completed, Toro Rosso is in 19th and 20th place…

The weather is nice in Hungary, and despite a dirty track, it is at the ideal temperature for the tires. During the hour and a half of practice, Kovalainen and Rosberg stood out. Kovalainen set the fastest time by 59 thousandths of a second ahead of Rosberg in the final minutes. Lewis Hamilton proves that McLaren is improving by positioning himself third, leaving the first Red Bull – Webber’s – in 4th position. The Australian, however, led the session for a large part of the time.

The teams cleaned the track little by little, and it wasn’t until halfway through the session that the times improved. For over thirty minutes, it was Webber who led the group consisting of Kubica and Massa. Then, five minutes before the end of the session, the duel took place between Rosberg and Hamilton. Won first by Hamilton, then by Rosberg, it was finally Kovalainen who emerged victorious, coming out of nowhere. The Finn was ranked outside the top 10 just a few minutes earlier.

Further on, Kazuki Nakajima highlights the good performance of Williams with the fifth-best time. He is ahead of Jarno Trulli’s Toyota and both Ferraris. Räikkönen is 7th, 59 thousandths faster than Massa. Alonso is 9th in the first Renault, placing the R29 seven-tenths off the best time.

The current leader of the world championship is only 10th. Brawn GP did not seek performance this morning, and Button’s best time is 8 tenths slower than Kovalainen. Barrichello is 13th, 9 tenths behind. Between the two Brawn GPs, the BMWs are interspersed. Kubica is just a few thousandths ahead of Heidfeld.

To highlight the poor performance of Vettel and Piquet. At the moment, the German is only 15th, over a second behind the best time. Piquet, despite having a car identical to Alonso’s, is only 17th, behind Fisichella and 1.400 seconds off the best time.

Among the smaller teams, Force India is ahead of Toro Rosso. Buemi is indeed 19th, leading by just 0.230 seconds over the newcomer and Sébastien Bourdais’ replacement, Jaime Alguersuari. The Spaniard drove a lot, without making any significant mistakes. He is two seconds off Kovalainen’s best time.

Results of Free Practice 1 – Hungarian Grand Prix – Friday, July 24, 2009: