Hungarian Grand Prix specialist Lewis Hamilton was fastest in first practice at the Hungaroring.

Hamilton, who has won the race in Budapest on four previous occasions, was the man to beat once again in Friday practice.

Nico Rosberg was two-tenths shy in second place, however, the biggest story of the session was the substantial gap between the Mercedes duo and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in third, who was 1.644s off Hamilton’s benchmark.

Ferrari will not be pleased with their initial pace at the Hungaroring as they were only marginally quicker than Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo in fifth, who was on the yellow-marked soft tyres.

Max Verstappen ensured the top six drivers in the drivers’ standings filled the top six spots on the timesheets, ending the session in sixth place.

Charles Coates/Getty Images Sport

McLaren’s Fernando Alonso led the midfield runners ahead of teammate Jenson Button. Haas’ Romain Grosjean and Force India’s Sergio Perez rounded out the top 10.

At a circuit which Williams have traditionally struggled at, both Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas lacked pace in FP1 and ended the session in 12th and 13th respectively.

GP3 Series leader Charles Leclerc was back in the Haas in place of Esteban Gutierrez, he was 16th fastest and completed 22 laps.

Reigning GP3 champion was given another taste of F1 action for Renault, ending FP1 in 18th.