Charles Leclerc sets the pace in Hungarian GP FP1 as Aston Martin face issues after upgrades

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Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the pace in FP1 at the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix before suffering a reliability issue, and Aston Martin hit trouble after revealing 16 upgrades.

The Hungarian GP is the final round before the summer break, yet it has proven to be a vital battleground for several teams. Some of the teams also used practice at the Hungaroring as a chance to fill part of their rookie FP1 quotas for the term, with five race drivers sitting out.

McLaren fielded reigning F2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli in Oscar Piastri’s place, Mercedes reserve driver Frederik Vesti stood in for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Paul Aron stood in at Alpine for Franco Colapinto, Ryo Hirakawa drove Oliver Bearman’s Haas and Colton Herta made his latest appearance in an official F1 session with Cadillac in place of Valtteri Bottas in Hungary.

Charles Leclerc tops FP1 at the Hungarian Grand Prix by 0.484s! ⏱️ Go early, predict the pole margin!

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Aston Martin stole the show in FP1 at the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix with 16 upgrades

Fornaroli’s outing in FP1 at the Hungarian GP with McLaren even carried greater importance for the Woking-based team, too, as the Italian trialled their version of a Macarena rear wing. McLaren do not intend to race their rotating rear wing in Hungary, but plan to at Zandvoort.

READ MORE: How to watch the 2026 F1 Hungarian Grand Prix, plus the weather forecast

It was not McLaren’s upgrades, which also include a revised floor, or Ferrari’s aggressive rear wing update that were the talk of the paddock in Hungary, though. Instead, eyes were glued to the Aston Martin garage, as the Silverstone crew have debuted their B-spec car this week.

Aston Martin have rushed through their B-spec car for the Hungarian GP to try to find some signs of hope ahead of the summer break. Design legend Adrian Newey has overhauled the AMR26 with the introduction of a 16-part package – including a new front wing, nose, floor, diffuser, sidepods, rear suspension, cooling vents and rear wing – after a bleak start to 2026.

Work continued in the Aston Martin garage throughout FP1, as well, as their mechanics got to grips with their new package. The Silverstone team faced a delayed start to the weekend as their updates only arrived at the Hungaroring on Thursday and they had to break curfew.

The opening practice session at the Hungarian GP was also not always an easy affair for Red Bull racer Max Verstappen, who grew annoyed with Carlos Sainz of Williams early on in FP1. Sainz, for his part, soon radioed Williams to claim that he briefly lost radio communication.

Verstappen found where Sainz was positioning his car on the racing line “unbelievable” and “really dangerous”. But they were both noted by the race stewards for driving erratically, as Verstappen aggressively hit the brakes in retaliation to Sainz going slowly on the racing line.

Ferrari star Lewis Hamilton also had a rather wild moment after losing the rear of his car out of the final corner early during FP1 at the Hungarian GP. Alpine reserve driver Aron also had a wild ride towards the end of one of his laps in the A526 after switching onto the soft tyres.

Aston Martin had far bigger problems, mind, as Lance Stroll saw his session come to an early end with 20 minutes to go. Stroll parked up with a suspected rear suspension failure, after it appeared to snap despite the Canadian not seeming to be aggressively riding the kerbs.

Issues were also afoot for Williams during FP1 at the Hungarian GP, as Sainz had a big lockup under braking soon after Alex Albon appeared to have similar problems. Ferrari star Leclerc also endured issues late on, as he coasted into the pit lane after noting over the Scuderia’s team radio that “something broke” – which sounded like he suffered a gearbox problem.

Despite the issue, Leclerc still finished FP1 at the Hungarian Grand Prix with the fastest time after posting a 1:19.075. Ferrari are many people’s favourite to win the Hungarian GP, but a 0.484-second margin at the top of the order for the Monegasque still came as a surprise.

Full 2026 F1 Hungarian Grand Prix FP1 results