Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo posted the fastest time in the first practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Friday. The Australian driver was 0.234 seconds quicker than Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and 0.372 ahead of Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes on the Hungaroring circuit.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen was fourth, followed by Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas and Raikkonen's teammate Sebastian Vettel.
On a circuit that reduces power output because of its tight and twisting nature, the Red Bulls should be confident of getting closer to Ferrari and Mercedes in terms of race speed.
Vettel leads Hamilton by one point overall heading into Sunday's race.
The 4.4-kilometer (2.7-mile) track nestled in rolling hills just outside of Budapest was a bit slippery despite warm and sunny conditions.
Vettel had a patchy run, losing control of the rear of his car and spinning on Turn 9, while Haas driver Romain Grosjean had a similar blip on Turn 11.
Italian driver Antonio Giovinazzi, filling in for Haas driver Kevin Magnussen, damaged his left wheel on Turn 11 and the red flag came out to briefly halt the session.
Right at the end, the front wing came flying off Jolyon Palmer's Renault, bringing out the red flag again. However, with only a few seconds left, the session came to a fitting close.
There is a second practice later Friday and another Saturday ahead of qualifying.
