The Aston Martin team had correctly detected that the Hungarianring in Budapest could be profitable for them this weekend at the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Hungary, and Lance Stroll positioned himself well in the middle of the pack during free practice, Friday.

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The Quebec driver finished the first session in 12th place, just behind his teammate Sebastian Vettel, with a best time of 1 min 20.414. He was 1.6 seconds behind the leader, Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Ferrari).

Stroll appeared to have damaged the floor of his single-seater by being thrown off on one of the curbs, but he didn't seem to suffer too much afterwards. He was also nearly involved in a contact with Fernando Alonso (Alpine), but the veteran Spaniard reacted quickly avoiding the slowing green car to let him pass.

In the second practice session, Stroll could not do better than the 14th time (1:19.702), but he improved his best time and was able to close the gap between him and the leaders a little. This time, Charles Leclerc's other Ferrari was the fastest.

Vettel did even better with a seventh position in training. The German seemed unaffected by Thursday's announcement of his retirement at the end of the season.

Qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix will take place on Saturday with the race following the following day. Last year, Stroll took 12th position on the starting grid.