Force India’s Sergio Perez walked away unscathed from a big crash in Practice One as the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend began in dramatic fashion.
The Mexican driver’s car overturned after he crashed into the barriers coming out of the twisty circuit’s Turn 11. Perez had run wide over the astroturf on the exit of the right-hander before his car slewed across the track on a collision course with the Armco, before flipping over as a rear wheel dug into the grass.
Fortunately, the 25-year-old was able to extract himself from the upturned VJM08 and, after a quick check-up at the circuit’s medical centre, he walked back to Force India’s garage.
“It was just a bad accident, really unlucky. The track was very dirty. I was on the astroturf and on the wrong side of the track, a very bad angle so it made the car roll over. But everything’s all right,” Perez told Sky Sports F1 on his return to the pits.
“It was a bit of a strange accident. I thought it was all under control but I guess I the astroturf was very dirty and that’s why I went into the wall. But we have to check everything in detail.”
Although Force India are yet to confirm the cause of the accident, initial suggestions are that the car's right-rear suspension broke.
“It looks very much like a right-rear suspension failure with the kerbs," observed Sky Sports F1's Martin Brundle. "The power’s on and the torque going through the rear tyres and rear suspension and it basically uses its own tyres – held on very successfully by the tethers – as a giant powerball, and it bounces it on to its roof.
“The FIA and designers will be pretty pleased with themselves on this because the car did everything it should have.”
The opening practice session was topped by world champion Lewis Hamilton with a best lap of 1:25.141 as Mercedes yet again formed a one-two at the head of the timesheet.
The championship leader is chasing a record fifth victory at the Hungaroring and initially enjoyed a near two-second advantage over Nico Rosberg in the early running, before the German closed his deficit down to just 0.109s by the end.
A second red flag arrived in the closing minutes after the front-wing on Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari unusually worked its way loose as the Finn went across the kerb at Turn 12, with the part then disintegrating as the Finn’s SF15-T ran over it.
Otherwise, it proved a strong session for the under-pressure Raikkonen as he finished third on the timesheet, half a second ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel. Indeed, the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat finished between the Ferraris in fourth and fifth.
Like Red Bull with Renault, McLaren are expecting their underperforming Honda engine to be less of a problem on the tortuous circuit and Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button provided early encouragement that a points finish could be achievable this weekend by going 11th and 12th fastest respectively.
Meanwhile, Lotus lost track time after non-payment of bills forced Pirelli to withhold tyres from them. Although the necessary cash was found shortly before the session began, Pastor Maldonado only took to the track in the closing minutes while Jolyon Palmer - standing in for Romain Grosjean - failed to set a time.
F1’s return after a three-week break in races has naturally proved a subdued affair off the track following the death of Jules Bianchi last Friday, with the grid’s drivers making clear they are racing in the memory of the popular and talented Frenchman this weekend.
All 20 drivers are running with stickers in tribute to Bianchi on their crash helmets – either #JB17 or #CiaoJules – with a minute’s silence to be held ahead of Sunday’s race.
Practice One timesheet:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:25.141
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:25.250
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:25.812
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:26.053
5. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:26.070
6. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:26.395
7. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:26.727
8. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:26.776
9. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:26.825
10. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:26.934
11. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:27.272
12. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:27.308
13. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:27.317
14. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:27.381
15. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:27.409
16. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:27.732
17. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1:28.568
18. Will Stevens, Manor, 1:29.693
19. Fabio Leimer, Manor, 1:30.631
20. Jolyon Palmer, Lotus, No time