The German, who crashed out of the lead of the last race in Hockenheim and fell 17 points behind Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton, set a benchmark time of one minute 16.834 seconds, beating Verstappen by just 0.074 seconds
Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel edged out Red Bull's Max Verstappen to go fastest for Ferrari on the opening day of practice for tomorrow's Hungarian Grand Prix. The German, who crashed out of the lead of the last race in Hockenheim and fell 17 points behind Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton, set a benchmark time of one minute 16.834 seconds, beating Verstappen by just 0.074 seconds.
The two men were the only drivers to lap faster than the one minute 17 second mark. Hamilton, who capitalised on Vettel's mistake in Germany by scoring a resounding win from 14th on the grid, could only manage the fifth fastest time on Friday ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
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The Briton was 0.753 seconds off the pace with Bottas a second adrift. The Mercedes pair had also been fifth and sixth in the morning, with Ferrari and Red Bull locking out the top four spots on the timesheets. But the reigning champions' relegation to third best had been expected, with the tight twists of the Hungaroring track not suiting their car as much as Ferrari's and Red Bull's challengers.
Ricciardo ended the day third quickest after having led from Vettel in the morning. Kimi Raikkonen ended both sessions fourth. Romain Grosjean marked Haas out as contenders for the mantle of best-of-the-rest yet again with the seventh-quickest time in both sessions. Carlos Sainz ended the day eight for Renault ahead of Pierre Gasly in the Toro Rosso.
Force India's Esteban Ocon, rounded out the top ten, one place ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez amid talk the team could go into administration as a means to emerging on a sounder financial footing.
Vettel led a Ferrari one-two in Hungary last year and he needs to deliver again after his costly mistake last week in his home race. It would also mark a fitting tribute to former Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne. who passed away on Wednesday after suffering complications following a recent surgery.
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