Hamilton leads as Perez crashes

Lewis Hamilton led the first practice session of the Hungarian Grand Prix, while Sergio Perez walked away unscathed from a crash in searing heat yesterday.

Many drivers wore tributes to Jules Bianchi, with race stickers such as "Ciao Jules" or "JB 17" on their helmets. Bianchi died last Friday from injuries sustained last October in a crash at the Japanese GP.

There was a major scare when the red flag came out one hour into the session as Perez (inset) flipped his Force India car on turn 11, with the rear skidding out from under him and sending him into the barriers and toppling slowly over.

Fears for Perez's safety were quickly eased as he waved to fans at the Hungaroring on his walk to the medical center for a mandatory check.

Hamilton needed little time to shoot up the leaderboard, and then went even faster, finishing .109 seconds quicker than Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, and .671 ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

The veteran Finn lost his front wing, which dropped off a few minutes from the end of the session, bringing out the red flag for a second time.

formula one