source – Supersport
During the third and final practice of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Lando Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri established a McLaren one-two, leading Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by a wide margin.
After a disrupted Friday session marked by Charles Leclerc’s crash and subsequent red flags, drivers were eager to maximize their final practice session ahead of qualifying. With temperatures reaching a slightly cooler 27 degrees Celsius compared to Friday, the scene was set for an intense FP3 at the Hungaroring.
Max Verstappen was one of the first to clock a timed lap, despite grappling with understeer and a lack of rear grip in his RB20. The action intensified with 40 minutes remaining as drivers switched to soft tyres for their flying laps. Following his impressive performance in FP2, Lando Norris again showcased his pace, setting the fastest time of 1m 16.931s midway through the session.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda caught attention by slotting into second and third, respectively, as the track conditions improved. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz had a minor scare at Turn 4, the same corner where his teammate Leclerc spun off on Friday.
Red Bull and Aston Martin opted for a different strategy, saving their soft tyres for later in the session. As times tumbled during the final runs, Norris surged to the top with a blistering lap of 1m 16.098s, nearly half a second ahead of George Russell. Oscar Piastri was quick but fell just short of his teammate’s pace, while Verstappen’s first attempt on softs saw him struggling, placing him in third. Verstappen’s final outing saw him running wide, capping a challenging session for the championship leader.
Russell secured fourth for Mercedes, followed by Sainz in fifth and Ricciardo in sixth. Alex Albon had a promising run for Williams, finishing seventh, with Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas in eighth. Tsunoda claimed ninth in a strong session for RB, and Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top ten despite a late spin at Turn 9.
Leclerc managed P11 on his return after missing most of FP2, followed by Valtteri Bottas in P12 and Sergio Perez in P13, despite Perez showing strong pace on Friday. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were 14th and 15th for Aston Martin, while Logan Sargeant, Zhou Guanyu, Pierre Gasly, Kevin Magnussen, and Esteban Ocon completed the order.
With the final practice session concluded, all eyes now turn to qualifying at 1600 local time. Fans are eagerly awaiting to see who will come out on top and secure pole position at the Hungaroring.
