Hungary: Hamilton after Kovalainen

McLaren had already shown signs of clear improvement at the Nürburgring, with the good results in qualifying and the excellent start of Lewis Hamilton, poorly rewarded later. This time, the Woking team proves that its single-seaters are competitive. Certainly, on Friday, many teams test their single-seaters in new conditions, with settings to be defined, and the times do not ??slam?? not always. But, in this context, the McLaren single-seaters proved to be the fastest. Heikki Kovalainen, first this morning, ranks second in the afternoon session, while Lewis Hamilton, third at 11:30 a.m., this time places himself at the top of the list.

The start of the session first marked the good times set by Nelsinho Piquet, before Heikki Kovalainen (1:23??396) then Nico Rosberg (1:23??116) took over. Then it's the pilots Red Bull who appeared as headliners, first Sebastian Vettel (1?23??013), then Mark Webber, dropping below 1?23?? (1?22??918). Far from the best times, Rubens Barrichello spun, before Jarno Trulli had to abandon his car at the edge of the track.

This Friday, Heikki Kovalainen wants to prove that he deserves his wheel. Announced replaced in 2010 by Nico Rosberg, the Finn ??slap?? a time (1?22??126), a time over which the other drivers are struggling. While he was close to a double on the day, Kovalainen saw, at the very end of the session, Lewis Hamilton steal first place from him (1:22:079). In two sessions, both appearing on the podium in free practice, Hamilton and Kovalainen showed that they had to be counted on again. From now on, the quest for a good place in Q3, Saturday during the qualifying session, remains the main objective.