Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton was fastest in both today’s practice sessions ahead of the 2015 Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring circuit.
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“Sahara Force India will not take part in this afternoon’s second practice session at the Hungaroring as the team continues to investigate a suspension problem, which caused (driver) Sergio Perez to crash this morning”.
His death was the first in a Formula One generation.
Perez’s vehicle landed upside down, but fortunately the former McLaren driver reported he was “okay” before clambering out of his cockpit.
He slid helplessly across the track before crashing into the barriers and then being launched into the air.
While Perez was uninjured, Force India were concerned by the nature of his crash and attributed it to a suspension failure.
“We should definitely analyse my accident and see if there’s something we can improve”.
Hamilton also led the second practice session.
Hamilton will be confident of securing a ninth pole position in 10 races this season when qualifying starts on Saturday.
“Sergio’s vehicle suffered significant damage to the bodywork, wings and floor, and repairs are ongoing”. At certain times during the afternoon session we looked pretty competitive, but you never know anyone else’s programme.
The second Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat was sixth, ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.
“It’s so fun to drive with the combination of corners and undulations. It’s bumpy, it feels old school”.
Track temperature on Friday was measured at 59 degrees C (138 F), which will put quite a load on the tires.
The session was restarted after a 15-minute halt, and after the stoppage Nico Rosberg worked his way down to a 1m25.250s, which was just under half-a-tenth faster than Hamilton’s early mark. I couldn’t find the balance in the vehicle. I think everyone is having difficulty with it, it isn’t easy, but I like that it is hard.
Ricciardo ended the day in a cloud of smoke, with his Renault engine blowing spectacularly to bring out the red flags again.
The incident was a reminder of the ever-present dangers involved in F1, just three days after the funeral of Jules Bianchi, who died last week from injuries sustained in a crash in last October’s Japanese Grand Prix.
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F1 tire supplier Pirelli tweeted “sarai sempre con noi” (you will always be with us) in honor of the French driver, who died at the age of 25, and was buried on Tuesday in his hometown of Nice.
