Hamilton shaved more than two seconds off his pacesetting morning session lap after going around the Hungaroring circuit in 1 minute, 21.018 seconds in the second stint. The McLaren driver, a two-time winner in Budapest, was more than two-tenths of a second quicker than Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso as cool weather gave way to warmer conditions.

Jenson Button of McLaren was third. Red Bull pair Mark Webber and Vettel were about half a second behind Hamilton, who is coming off a German GP triumph.

McLaren and Ferrari continued to close the gap on constructors’ leader Red Bull, which dominated the championship with seven wins in the first eight GPs but has seen its main rivals share the last two victories.

McLaren can be optimistic after winning three of the past four Hungarian GPs, while climbing temperatures would also help Ferrari. Rain is expected to hold off Saturday when Red Bull’s perfect grip on qualifying will come up against its sternest test. The Austrian team has started from pole position in each race this year and 25 of the last 29 races.

Vettel, the defending F1 champion coming off a season-low fourth place at the Nuerburgring, leads the championship with 216 points. Webber is second with 139, Hamilton has 134 and Alonso 130. Button slipped to 109 points after retiring from the past two races.

Webber’s car lost its front wing and nose following a run-off in the morning session but was repaired in time to race in the afternoon.

Felipe Massa of Ferrari led the rest of the field after the main contenders, with the Brazilian clocking 1:22.09 in front of Mercedes pair Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher. Force India’s Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil completed the top 10.

Brazilian driver Bruno Senna was 15th in the first session when he replaced Nick Heidfeld for Renault.

Sunday’s 70-lap race is the last before F1’s four-week summer break.