Photo: World Series by Renault
Lotus driver Marco Sorensen posted the best lap of the first Formula Renault 3.5 practice session at Hungaroring, beating the benchmark set by championship leader Kevin Magnussen in the closing stages of the hour-long run.
Indeed, it was Magnussen who sat on top of the timesheets for most of the 60 minutes, further strengthening that lead when he set the first lap time under 1m30s in the second half of the session.
However, with a late-gasp effort, his compatriot Sorensen, who won both races during the most recent Formula Renault 3.5 round, narrowly bested the DAMS driver’s efforts.
Carlos Sainz, Jr. was third, making his series return with Zeta Corse. Nico Muller took fourth, ahead of Will Stevens and Marlon Stockinger.
Arthur Pic was seventh, with Antonio Felix da Costa in eighth, while Oliver Webb and Nigel Melker completed the top ten.
Session results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Marco Sorensen | Lotus | 1:29.574 | 24 | |
| 2 | Kevin Magnussen | DAMS | 1:29.690 | +0.116 | 24 |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz, Jr. | Zeta Corse | 1:30.030 | +0.456 | 20 |
| 4 | Nico Muller | International Draco Racing | 1:30.106 | +0.532 | 24 |
| 5 | Will Stevens | P1 by Strakka Racing | 1:30.169 | +0.595 | 21 |
| 6 | Marlon Stockinger | Lotus | 1:30.317 | +0.743 | 21 |
| 7 | Arthur Pic | AV Formula | 1:30.476 | +0.902 | 21 |
| 8 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Arden Caterham | 1:30.603 | +1.029 | 19 |
| 9 | Oliver Webb | Fortec Motorsports | 1:30.671 | +1.097 | 24 |
| 10 | Nigel Melker | Tech 1 Racing | 1:30.723 | +1.149 | 26 |
| 11 | Sergey Sirotkin | ISR | 1:30.875 | +1.301 | 21 |
| 12 | Carlos Huertas | Carlin | 1:31.056 | +1.482 | 21 |
| 13 | Lucas Foresti | SMP Racing by Comtec | 1:31.063 | +1.489 | 18 |
| 14 | Andre Negrao | International Draco Racing | 1:31.151 | +1.577 | 19 |
| 15 | Stoffel Vandoorne | Fortec Motorsports | 1:31.162 | +1.588 | 25 |
| 16 | Daniil Move | SMP Racing by Comtec | 1:31.183 | +1.609 | 18 |
| 17 | Zoel Amberg | Pons Racing | 1:31.184 | +1.610 | 23 |
| 18 | Pietro Fantin | Arden Caterham | 1:31.205 | +1.631 | 21 |
| 19 | Jazeman Jaafar | Carlin | 1:31.223 | +1.649 | 22 |
| 20 | Norman Nato | DAMS | 1:31.321 | +1.747 | 12 |
| 21 | Matias Laine | P1 by Strakka Racing | 1:31.423 | +1.849 | 19 |
| 22 | Nikolay Martsenko | Pons Racing | 1:31.435 | +1.861 | 18 |
| 23 | Christopher Zanella | ISR | 1:31.863 | +2.289 | 17 |
| 24 | Yann Cunha | AV Formula | 1:31.987 | +2.413 | 19 |
| 25 | Mikhail Aleshin | Tech 1 Racing | 1:32.166 | +2.592 | 13 |
| 26 | William Buller | Zeta Corse | 1:32.695 | +3.121 | 18 |