Hungarian GP : Post-Friday practice reactions from Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll

Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team had a decent opening day of practice for the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix at Hungaroring.

Lance Stroll set a 1.18.775 lap time to finish the first practice session in 10th, while Sebastian Vettel lapped just over two tenths slower, The German’s 1.18.989 lap time would secure 13th.

The Canadian managed to complete 25 laps in the morning session while Seb completed 22 laps.

In the hot afternoon session, Sebastian comes home in eighth after lapping in 1.18.228, while Lance made it two AMR21s in the top 10 after posting a 1.18.230 time in another closely matched midfield battle ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying.

Sebastian completed 31 laps in the afternoon session while Lance managed to complete 30 laps.

Team needs to find more time over the night to secure better place on the starting grid for Sunday’s race, where overtaking is really tough.

Sebastian Vettel

“We had a decent day. If we qualify tomorrow where we finished today, I think that would probably be a good result for us. But, of course, we want more – so let’s see what we can find overnight.

“My fastest lap this afternoon was OK, but I left a bit of a margin. On this track, the driver can make the difference if they have absolute trust in the car: it is one corner after the other, without much time to think, so, if we can get in the groove tomorrow morning, we can aim for a good result in qualifying.”

Lance Stroll

“It was really close out there between the teams, which is to be expected at the Hungaroring. It is always great fun to drive this track, so I am happy to be back.

“We have learned a lot today – particularly with the tyres. There was quite a lot of degradation in the long runs in FP2, which is often the case in Hungary. We will go away and look into it, because tyres and strategy can be really influential here.

“I felt good in the car over a single lap, but there are always areas to improve. It has been a good start to the weekend and I am looking forward to qualifying tomorrow. It could be especially exciting if we get some rain, too.”