The 4.381km circuit has been a feature of the F1 schedule for nearly 20 years now, with the first race at Hungaroring held in 1986. The circuit is tight and twisty and the Grand Prix teams run with more aerodynamic downforce on their cars than at anywhere else on the calendar except Monte Carlo. In deference to that, the Toyota TF105s are all running specially developed ‘midwings’ mounted just behind the roll-over hoop.

Toyota third driver Zonta set the quickest time of the day when he lapped in 1m20.409s, some 0.11s ahead of West McLaren Mercedes test driver Alexander Wurz.

“I enjoy driving in Hungary but you have to be a little bit cautious on Friday because the circuit is always very dusty,” the Brazilian explained. “It was hard to find a balance early on but the surface conditions change quite a lot when the tyre rubber goes down and I had a good day. It’s always good to see your name at the top of the time sheets! I lost a little bit of time in the first session with a hydraulics problem, but apart from that everything ran smoothly, I got through the programme and I think we are looking good.”

Behind the two ‘Friday’ drivers, championship challenger Kimi Raikkonen set the third fastest time (1m21.281s), ahead of the two Toyota race drivers, Jarno Trulli (1m21.410s) and Ralf Schumacher (1m21.631s), with Juan Pablo Montoya (1m21.662s) completing the top six.

“It’s interesting that only McLaren and us featured in the top six,” Trulli said, “and I hope that we can keep going and translate today’s promising performance level into some strong points. I also had a quick spin when I went a little off-line on the dust, but there was no harm done and I got through my programme.”

Schumacher added: “Hungary is a different sort of circuit, with everyone running high downforce, and the conditions are generally very hot, which should suit us. It was a normal Friday, with no problems, and I think we can realistically aim for something between fourth and sixth place.”

Chief race engineer Dieter Gass explained: “Ricardo setting the fastest time is obviously a good basis for the rest of the weekend. As well as the hydraulic problem, he picked up some litter in the cooling duct, which sent the electrical temperatures up and forced us to change the voltage regulator as a precaution. The race drivers were also happy and we have plenty of data to help us make the tyre choice. We are showing good pace and I hope that we are poised for a good race.”