HUNGARORING -- Daniel Ricciardo set the pace in the opening practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix as Red Bull and Ferrari both outpaced Mercedes.
Ricciardo's time of 1:18.486 stands as a new lap record for the current layout of the Hungaroring, with times expected to fall further as the weekend progresses. Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was second fastest, 0.234s off Ricciardo and 0.138s quicker than Lewis Hamilton in the fastest Mercedes.
Hamilton had held the fastest time before Ricciardo's low-fuel super-soft tyre lap and was 0.390s faster than Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas in fourth. Both Mercedes drivers set their fastest times earlier in the session when track conditions may not have been quite as good, but Red Bull's pace looks genuine and was backed up by an advantage of roughly 0.