BUDAPEST, July 18 — Formula One championship leader Valtteri Bottas led team mate Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes one-two in final practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix today.

The Finn set a time of one minute 15.437 seconds on a cloudy morning at the Hungaroring after yesterday’s rain, 0.42 quicker than six-times champion Hamilton and the fastest lap of the weekend.

Racing Point’s Mexican Sergio Perez, whose car is a close copy of last year’s title-winning Mercedes, was third on the timesheets.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc lapped fourth fastest and Racing Point’s Lance Stroll fifth on a track that was slippery early on from oil and cement dust left behind from an earlier Formula Three race.

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Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who started on pole position in Hungary last year, was sixth quickest.

Hamilton will be chasing his eighth Hungarian Grand Prix victory tomorrow to equal Ferrari great Michael Schumacher’s all-time F1 record for the number of wins at the same grand prix.

The Briton is six points behind Bottas, who won the season-opener in Austria and finished second to Hamilton in the second race at the Red Bull Ring. — Reuters

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