Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel has lived up to his role as favorite in the Friday training session for the Hungarian Grand Prix .
Budapest (SID) – The four-time Formula One World Champion scoredthe best time on the Hungaroring in 1: 16.834 minutes. Thus, the World Cup candidate from Heppenheim for the first time in the 2018 season on the first day of training was the fastest.
On the other hand, the world champion Mercedes was only the third force just outside Budapest : Vettel’s permanent rival Lewis Hamilton ( England ) had to settle for fifth with 0.753 seconds behind the leader. Kimi Räikkönen (Finland) finished fourth in the second Ferrari, just ahead of the reigning world champion and world championship leader (+0.319).
Vettel must pay attention to the cars of his former employer Red Bull with regard to the qualifying on Saturday (15.00 clock) and the race on Sunday (15.10 clock / each RTL ) . The Dutchman Max Verstappen came in second up to 0.074 seconds, Verstappens Australian team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in third place was 0.227 seconds slower than the German.
Renault driver Nico Hülkenberg had to watch long because of technical problems, with 2.079 seconds behind Vettel came the Emmericher not on the 14th place out.
Vettel and his team paid tribute to long-time Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne, who died on Wednesday, with a mourning ribbon on his clothing and discreet black stickers on his noses. In addition, the flags at the Ferrari Motorhome hang in the last race before the summer break at half-mast.
Vettel is 17 points behind Hamilton in the twelfth of 21 races of the season.