Nico Rosberg tops Friday practice while Lewis Hamilton crashes
Nico Rosberg of Mercedes posted by far the fastest lap during the second practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Friday.
Teammate Lewis Hamilton was unhurt after crashing sideways into a barrier of rubber tires, Mercedes said. Hamilton was able to drive the car back to the pit lane and later returned to the team garage after a medical checkup.
We're still under a RED FLAG here but Hamilton has managed to make it back to the pits #HungarianGP #FP2 pic.twitter.com/u7MGVLbiHk
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 22, 2016
Mercedes said Hamilton's car would be fully stripped to be checked out, but jokingly noted it "appears to bounce rather well."
Hamilton, who set the pace in the morning practice, also had the fastest time before crashing at turn 11, about 13 minutes into the afternoon session. Rosberg quickly bettered Hamilton's mark with a time of 1 minute, 20.435 seconds, the only driver below 1:21.
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo was second, 0.595 seconds behind the championship leader, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, the 2015 Hungaroring winner, finishing third.
Max Verstappen of Red Bull was fourth and Hamilton, despite completing only four laps before his accident, was fifth.
Rosberg has 168 points halfway through the 21-race season, one point ahead of two-time defending world champion Hamilton. Mercedes has won nine of the first 10 races this season and 41 of the last 48.
Practice 2 results:
Practice 1 results:
