Ferrari's Carlos Sainz bemoaned a "strange" Friday at the Hungaroring, with teams' run plans affected by rain in FP1 and a new tyre allocation. The 'Alternative Tyre Allocation' trial introduced by F1 and Pirelli this weekend is the first of two trials that aim to help sustainability in the sport, with only 11 tyre sets allocated per car rather than 13. Hard tyres are mandated for Q1, Mediums for Q2 and Softs for Q3 in qualifying - an obligation that led to a number of different run plans across second practice, with FP1 having been largely washed out. While teammate Charles Leclerc ended FP2 fastest, Sainz could only manage tenth, and spoke afterwards of an unusual day. "A very strange day, with a new tyre allocation, not being able to do as many laps as you do on Friday because of [rain in] FP1," Sainz told media, including RacingNews365.com . "We could not really run as much as we do on other Fridays, but is what it is. Tomorrow should be easier." Sainz added that he felt the field would be packed closely together around the tight confines of the Hungaroring circuit. "Gaps [between cars] are going to be close. In the last couple of races, we see everyone has converged a lot in development and performance," said Sainz. "I think it's going to be a tough weekend for everyone out there, just putting laps together, especially on such a tricky track, and everyone's going to be on similar race pace."
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