Mercedes once again dominated free practice at Hungary to end the second session with Lewis Hamilton fastest and team-mate Nico Rosberg in second.
The two Silver Arrows led Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso who put in another strong session for Ferrari. Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was in 6th, almost 0.3 off Alonso. Kevin Magnussen was 5th in the first of the McLaren’s with his team-mate Jenson Button down in 9th. Daniel Ricciardo was 7th in the second of the Red Bulls and Valtteri Bottas was 8th and his team-mate Felipe Massa who spun earlier in the session rounded out the top 10.
After only getting one flying lap in during the morning session, Max Chilton was the first driver to get out into the blazing Hungarian sun.
With an ever improving track, drivers were constantly pushing the limits and some going beyond the call of duty. Fernando Alonso was one again grabbing his F14 T by the scruff of the neck and hustling it around the Hungaroring. Former team-mate Massa had a minor spin at the turn six chicane but continued. He wasn’t the only one who suffered through the chicane as Kevin Magnussen also took a trip through the gravel trap early into the session.
A slight scare came for Mercedes when it was reported that Nico Rosberg had a problem with his power unit, but there were no further concerns after some checks.
On the long fuel runs, it was no surprise to see Mercedes at the top closely followed by Vettel and Alonso. Although Ferrari traditionally run a lighter car during practice, Alonso still put in the times which were encouraging for the Scuderia.
But Mercedes still looked the strongest out of all 22 cars and it will take an extra special effort to stop them from winning once again.
