Formula 1

Hungarian GP: Toyota Friday practice notes

Panasonic Toyota Racing began its preparations for Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix with a fine day of practice around the Hungaroring. In soaring temperatures under the blazing sun, third driver Ricardo Zonta recorded the fastest time of the day ...

Published: Jul 30, 2005, 5:44 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Panasonic Toyota Racing began its preparations for Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix with a fine day of practice around the Hungaroring. In soaring temperatures under the blazing sun, third driver Ricardo Zonta recorded the fastest time of the day despite a hydraulics problem just before the lunch break.

Race drivers Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher both made it into the top five too, finishing the second session with the 4th and 5th fastest times respectively. The Toyotas all featured a new aerodynamic package in a bid to maximise downforce around this twisty circuit.

SOME LIKE IT HOT

Jarno Trulli is hoping to return to the points on Sunday after today's practice sessions around the Hungaroring. He put in a total of 34 laps of the track and recorded a time of 1m 21.410s, the 4th fastest of the second session.

Jarno Trulli:

"We had a decent day of practice and made it through our programme of set-up work and tyre evaluation without any problems. I had a brief spin in the second session, but that is quite normal here because it is very dusty off the racing line and you quickly lose grip. Hopefully we can maintain strong pace throughout the weekend."

THE SCHU DANUBE

Ralf Schumacher enjoyed another trouble-free day of Friday groundwork in preparation for the Hungarian Grand Prix, finishing the second session in 5th place.

Ralf Schumacher:

"Everyone always tries to get as much downforce as possible at the Hungaroring, so like other teams we have a special aero package here. It should stay nice and hot throughout the weekend, and that usually seems to suit us. So we will be targeting another decent points position - somewhere between 4th and 6th."

SIMPLY DA PEST

Toyota's third driver Ricardo Zonta finished on top of the pile after another busy Friday. The Brazilian suffered a hydraulics problem late in the first session but he went on to record the fastest time of the day.

Ricardo Zonta:

"It's always nice to see your name at the top of the timesheets, and that was a good day. The track was very slippery early on and we had some problems with the balance but we worked hard to improve it. I missed a few laps with a hydraulic problem at the end of the first session and with an overheating issue in the afternoon. But despite that we were still able to complete our long runs and put in a performance run."

HUNGARO-WING

Because the Hungaroring is one of the highest downforce circuits of the year Toyota has brought a new aero package that includes a triple wing mounted near the roll hoop.

Dieter Gass -- Chief Race Engineer:

"This was a very good starting point for the rest of the weekend. We showed good pace and we ran through our programme. Ricardo had a hydraulics problem in the first session which cut his last run short. Then in the second session he picked up some paper in a cooling duct so our electronic temperatures went high and we had to change his voltage regulator. Other than that, the drivers were happy. We did the tyre evaluation and collected the data we need."

Jarno Trulli
Car 16, Chassis TF105/07
First Session Classification: 11th, 8 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m23.764s (+2.353s)
Second Session Classification: 4th, 26 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m21.410s (+1.001s)

Ralf Schumacher
Car 17, Chassis TF105/05
First Session Classification: 10th, 6 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m23.706s (+2.295s)
Second Session Classification: 5th, 24 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m21.631s (+1.222s)

Ricardo Zonta
Car 38, Chassis TF105/02
First Session Classification: 16th, 18 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m24.270s (+2.859s)
Second Session Classification: 1st, 24 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m20.409s (Fastest)

-toyota-

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Hungarian GP: Renault Friday practice notes

Next article Hungarian GP: Minardi Friday practice notes

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Honda Racing US echoes Porsche urgency over unified 2030 rules framework

IMSA

IMSA IMSA 1 h

Honda Racing US echoes Porsche urgency over unified 2030 rules framework

Toto Wolff: Two sponsors left Mercedes after promoting Kimi Antonelli into F1

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

1 h

Toto Wolff: Two sponsors left Mercedes after promoting Kimi Antonelli into F1

Winners and losers from the penultimate round of 2026 NASCAR Cup season at Martinsville

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Martinsville II

2 h

Winners and losers from the penultimate round of 2026 NASCAR Cup season at Martinsville

Cadillac to investigate high-speed Mexico GP failure that led to angry Valtteri Bottas reaction

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

2 h

Cadillac to investigate high-speed Mexico GP failure that led to angry Valtteri Bottas reaction

Feature

Discover prime content

Lewis Hamilton needs “serious talks” with himself and his team-mate

Formula 1

Mexican GP

By Stuart Codling

Lewis Hamilton needs “serious talks” with himself and his team-mate

How Ferrari's loss became Max Verstappen's gain at F1's Mexico GP

Formula 1

Mexican GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

How Ferrari's loss became Max Verstappen's gain at F1's Mexico GP

The seven moments that defined Kimi Antonelli's F1 title win in 2026

Formula 1

Mexican GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

The seven moments that defined Kimi Antonelli's F1 title win in 2026

Why lap times in Mexico have been so much closer to the previous F1 era

Formula 1

Mexican GP

By Stuart Codling

Why lap times in Mexico have been so much closer to the previous F1 era

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts