Giovinazzi Breaks Track Record, 2019 Front Wings Debut

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor

Sauber reserve driver and Ferrari junior Antonio Giovinazzi set the headline time today at the Hungaroring when he slapped a set of hypersofts on his SF71H and broke Sebastian Vettel’s track record by over half a second. His 1:15.648 lap was two and a half seconds faster than second place man Marcus Ericsson in the Sauber C37, but it was overshadowed by our first look at what the new 2019 front wings will look like.

Red Bull, Force India and Williams all brought prototype front wings to the in-season test in order to take baseline aerodynamic measurements and work on refining the concept for their 2019 challengers.

The test, which concludes tomorrow is all about giving the teams’ junior, reserve and perspective drivers a chance to get some mileage under the belts while evaluating Pirelli’s 2019 prototype compounds and their teams aerodynamic upgrades.

Along with Giovinazzi and Ericsson at the test were Brendon Hartley for Toro Rosso, Lando Norris for McLaren, George Russel for Mercedes, Daniel Ricciardo for Red Bull, Nicolas Latifi for Force India, Nico Hulkenberg for Renault, Oliver Rowland for Williams and Sean Gelael for Toro Rosso.

Haas elected not to participate in the test after declaring it not worth the extra investment necessary to stay in Hungary.

Complete Times

1. Antonio Giovinazzi, Ferrari, 1:15.648, 96 laps
2. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:18.155, 95 laps
3. Brendon Hartley, Toro Rosso, 1:19.251, 126 laps
4. Lando Norris, McLaren, 1:19.294, 106 laps
5. George Russell, Mercedes, 1:19.781, 49 laps
6. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:19.854, 125 laps
7. Nicolas Latifi, Force India, 1:19.994, 103 laps
8. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault, 1:20.8265, 63 laps
9. Oliver Rowland Williams, 1:20.970, 65 laps
10. Sean Gelael Toro Rosso, 1:21.451, 109 laps