The Hungaroring provided the fans with some spectacular action on track during Free Practice 2 with drivers pushing the cars beyond their comfort zones.
With the option tyre runs over and done with, the teams began their long runs:
Most drivers ran with the soft compound tyre and switched to the mediums to complete a couple of laps in the dying minutes. The exceptions being Vettel, Button, Ericsson and Maldonado who completed their longest runs on the prime.
Ricciardo managed 4 laps in succession in the 1:28.2’s before his power unit failure, however these times show that the Red Bull means business at this track where the disadvantage of Renault power is masked. Daniil Kvyat showed similar pace but with delays due to traffic.
Hamilton and Rosberg are very close behind, along with Raikkonen. There is little tyre wear evident from the drivers, even those who completed the most laps. Carlos Sainz Jr losing about half a second in the first 13 laps. The race is likely to be 2 stops.
Sainz Jr showed impressive pace and would finish 6th if FP2 was a race, although Vettel could be ahead if he ran the option. It is also worth noting that Button is only a couple of seconds behind Vettel after five laps.
The average multiplier from FP2 to Qualifying.
Overtaking at Hungary is a tough task, so a good qualifying position is important. Red Bull split the Mercedes in FP2 but do not historically improve as much as the Silver Arrows going from Friday to Saturday. This is where Williams improve the most, and where Red Bull, Lotus, McLaren and Manor do not. For 8 out of the 10 teams, the difference is even more so when there are GP2 or/and GP3 race cars rubbering in the track surface.
If you apply the average FP2 to Qualifying multiplier for each individual team, the order looks like this:
| Team | Qualifying Time |
| Mercedes | 01:22.2 |
| Red Bull | 01:23.0 |
| Williams | 01:23.6 |
| Ferrari | 01:23.7 |
| Toro Rosso | 01:24.1 |
| McLaren | 01:24.7 |
| Sauber | 01:25.0 |
| Lotus | 01:25.1 |
| Manor | 01:29.1 |
With Force India unknown as both cars were absent from the session.
Notice how Manor are also left considerably outside the 107% time of the Mercedes. They’ll be hoping that Lewis and Nico do not use the Option tyre in Q1.
