Leclerc tops FP1 in Hungary as revamped Aston Martin shows signs of life

[p]The Monegasque lapped a dusty Hungaroring track in 01:19.075 seconds before ending his session with seven ‌minutes to spare after telling the team that 'something broke' on ‌the car.[/p][p]Red Bull's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/verstappen-max/UV3mgeXB/"]Max Verstappen[/a] was second on the ‌timesheets, 0.484 slower and facing a trip to the stewards for allegedly driving erratically, with Ferrari's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hamilton-lewis/tI5Vpe1h/"]Lewis Hamilton[/a] 0.543 off ‌his teammate's pace in third.[/p][embed guid="6f7f36c9-8c73-48a1-80d1-ec48d63a725d" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2080636165992898844" social-type="twitter" /][p]Hamilton was unhappy with his ⁠car's handling, saying over ‌the radio that it felt "pretty bad. Ride is very poor. ​The stiffness is too stiff."[/p][p]Mercedes' championship leader [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/antonelli-andrea-kimi/ptGu0mT1/"]Kimi Antonelli[/a] sat out the session, with Danish ​reserve [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vesti-frederik/0zJEHFq1/"]Frederik Vesti[/a] given time in the car and lapping seventh fastest. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/russell-george/xxF56RaN/"]George Russell[/a] was fifth, 0.991 slower ⁠than [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/leclerc-charles/KlCOSRub/"]Leclerc[/a].[/p][p]McLaren's world champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/norris-lando/WSVABbVF/"]Lando Norris[/a] was 11th, with last year's Formula Two champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fornaroli-leonardo/UqvgJBxr/"]Leonardo ‌Fornaroli[/a] taking [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/piastri-oscar/MqKAIeUf/"]Oscar Piastri[/a]'s car and ending up 16th.[/p][p]The session was briefly halted after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/stroll-lance/I3p9zz4s/"]Lance Stroll[/a] spun off in the upgraded Aston Martin, which is effectively a new car, such is the extent of the changes.[/p][p]Teammate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alonso-fernando/rVRhR90U/"]Fernando Alonso[/a] was 13th fastest with a time 2.475 seconds slower than Leclerc, which gives Aston real hope that their updates have led to significant improvement.[/p][embed guid="a104c01d-5963-48f2-b857-f72081c59d39" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2080638618457018684" social-type="twitter" /][p]Despite Ferrari's strong start to the Hungarian weekend, after winning two of the previous four ‌races, Leclerc and Hamilton both warned that Mercedes were ​still the clear favourites even if the track ‌was more to Ferrari's liking than recent ones.[/p][p][b]"I still personally expect Mercedes to be the reference and they are going to be very difficult to beat on the qualifying lap," [/b]said Leclerc.[/p][p]"I think Mercedes ⁠are still the team ⁠to beat," eight-time Hungarian ‌GP winner Hamilton said on Thursday.[/p]