Kimi Raikkonen led an uneventful first practice at the Hungaroring on Friday morning.
The Finn (McLaren) did only five laps on the twisty and initially slightly damp layout, setting his fastest time in the last minute, as an uncharacteristic 18 degrees hung in the air.
Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) was third, after doing a similar five-lap run at the end of the 60-minute session, but championship protagonist Fernando Alonso failed to set a time by doing only an outlap.
Runners for BMW-Sauber and Williams made no appearance at all, but it did emerge that Sir Frank Williams’ Cosworth-powered squad will test their new works Toyota engine for 2007 as early as next month.
Indeed, the other real morning action in Budapest was news that Jenson Button (Honda), Jarno Trulli (Toyota) and Christijan Albers (MF1-Toyota) all escaped penalty after FIA-sanctioned repairs were done to their V8 engines prior to the session.
Alonso, meanwhile, spent time speaking to the Spanish press, and was reported as explaining that he signed a multi-year contract with McLaren for 2007 because the silver team ‘wanted a fast answer’.
The 25-year-old also told ‘AS’: ”And they offered me a three year arrangement, but Renault was only talking about one (year).”
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