Sebastian Vettel leads Red Bull in Hungary practice

If he had done that in qualifying last year at the slow Hungaroring circuit,the 26-year-old championship leader would have been on the front row of the grid.

Vettel8217;s morning time of 1:22.723 was already a warning sign on a hot and cloudless morning with air temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius and track temperatures a sizzling 44.

Lotus8217;s Kimi Raikkonen 8211; who could be Vettel8217;s team mate next year 8211; was third fastest in the first session with Ferrari8217;s Fernando Alonso fourth on the timesheets.

The top five drivers were separated by less than three-tenths of a second in the afternoon when Raikkonen8217;s French team mate Romain Grosjean was third quickest to underscore Lotus8217;s potential.

Alonso,Vettel8217;s closest title rival with 34 points to make up after nine of the 19 races,was again fourth.

Vettel has never won in Hungary,one of only two circuits on the current calendar that has yet to see him on top of the podium,but has broken new ground this season and is chasing his fifth win in 10 races.

Mercedes,who have been the form team in qualifying with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg,focused on getting to grips with the new type of tyre after being forced to miss a test at Silverstone last week.

That was a punishment for a 8216;secret8217; test with Pirelli in Spain in May.

Since then,Pirelli have faced a wave of negative headlines after a spate of blowouts at last month8217;s British Grand Prix at Silverstone led them to change the tyres to last year8217;s construction with 2013 compounds.

Rosberg was eighth and seventh respectively while Hamilton 8211; three times triumphant in Hungary for McLaren and last year8217;s winner from pole 8211; was 13th and sixth.

McLaren,without a win this season,looked in better shape at a circuit that has brought them six wins in the last eight seasons.

Jenson Button,twice a winner in Hungary,was sixth fastest in the morning while Mexican team mate Sergio Perez clocked the ninth best time.

Germany8217;s Adrian Sutil,preparing for his 100th race for Force India,was seventh and 10th.

At the back,Venezuelan reserve driver Rodolfo Gonzalez replaced Britain8217;s Max Chilton for the opening session with Marussia and was comfortably slowest.