As we head towards Sunday’s race in Hungary, it’s almost certain Hamilton can sense McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso “breathing heavily” down his neck:

At todays second free practice session, Fernando Alonso has set the pace with a lap of one minute 20.919 seconds for the 4.384km Hungaroring circuit, ending the session 0.364secs ahead of Renault’s Heikki Kovalainen.

With five minutes remaining, 22-year-old Hamilton lost the back end of his McLaren, spinning and ultimately stalling the car, however he still managed to post the third fastest time.

Lewis Hamilton has admitted he enjoys racing at the Hungaroring which he considers a classic:

“I quite like the circuit; it is quite quick considering how tight it is. It is a real classic as well. You have gradient changes, some high and low speed corners and a good chicane up the back. There is one bump right at the back, which is so easy to catch you out, that is what happened to me in qualifying last year.”

Light rain had fell later in the practice session, adding some excitement into the proceedings and increasing the difficulty of the usually dusty Hungaroring surface, which could have been the factor in catching Hamilton out, but no damage was done.

But let’s hope Hamilton’s stall was a product of ironing out that last bump, sometimes pushing past the usual limits can be a good way to test boundaries, and this might end up playing a key part to a possible win on Sunday.