Hungarian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton crashes as Nico Rosberg ends quickest

Rosberg has won just once in the past six races, after starting the year with four straight victories

Lewis Hamilton crashed early in second practice as team-mate Nico Rosberg underlined Mercedes' pace at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Hamilton lost control at Turn 11 and slid into the barriers on his fourth lap. He limped back to the pits but could not run again, ending up fifth.

Rosberg was 0.595secs quicker than Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo in second.

Ferrari were struggling, with Sebastian Vettel 0.327secs back, 0.322secs ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Vettel's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was sixth fastest, more than 1.6secs off the pace.

• Rosberg signs new Mercedes contract

Raikkonen was less than 0.3secs quicker than the McLarens of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button - separated by only 0.059secs in seventh and eighth places.

And Ferrari lacked race pace, too, with Raikkonen doing a long run on heavy fuel at the same time as Rosberg and lapping on average about a second slower.

Mercedes were just as dominant on the race runs, Rosberg well over half a second on average quicker than the next quickest man, Verstappen.

Hamilton's mistake - he lost the rear on entry to one of the most demanding corners on a difficult track - will have cost him track time and experience of the car on full tanks, but that is unlikely to be too much of a hindrance on a track he knows well and is one of his favourites.

He was 0.237secs quicker than Rosberg in the first session and heads into the weekend a point adrift of his team-mate in the championship.

• Watch: Hungarian Grand Prix weather forecast

Hamilton has set himself the target of going into the summer break after next weekend's German Grand Prix with a lead, something he has not had yet in 2016 after a difficult start to the season that saw him 43 points behind Rosberg after the first four races.

Renault's Jolyon Palmer was 19th fastest, 0.181secs and two places behind team-mate Kevin Magnussen.

Driver reaction

Lewis Hamilton: "They have those new white kerbs. I just put my rear wheel just over the white line and touched it and they are very slippery. I don't know why they have put them there - it was perfectly fine before.

"Nico had really good runs, so I can study that. Pace was feeling quite good. It is just about getting in the swing of things, if you miss a session that's what you miss."

Nico Rosberg: "An impressive day for us, performance-wise. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean we'll be in quite such a strong position tomorrow - but for now it's very positive.

"I'm feeling great out there and the car is very quick, so a good start to the weekend overall. Obviously, it's a great feeling to start the day like that with the contract being sorted. That was always going to be a positive boost."

Hungarian Grand Prix practice results

Hungarian Grand Prix coverage details

Hamilton recovers back to the pits after crashing into the barrier at Turn 11

There'd better be something really good on that TV

Max Verstappen kicks up some sparks in his Red Bull

But early in the first session it was water being kicked up on a drying track, as Carlos Sainz demonstrates

Sebastian Vettel finished third in the second practice session