Lando Norris of McLaren secured the fastest time during Saturday’s third practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix. He finished ahead of Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli at the Hungaroring, where conditions were notably hot.
Norris recorded a best time of 1 minute, 17.939 seconds. This placed him just over a tenth of a second quicker than both Hamilton and Antonelli. The session served as a final preparation for drivers before the qualifying rounds scheduled for later in the day.
Practice Session Overview
The session began at 12:30 local time with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto being the first to take to the track. Colapinto had experienced significant car damage on Friday after sliding into the barriers at the final corner, which limited his running time. Lance Stroll also made an early appearance from the pits, aiming to gain track time after a suspension issue in FP1 and missing all of FP2. Stroll’s team, Aston Martin, arrived in Budapest with a 16-part car upgrade.
While many drivers were out on track, Arvid Lindblad of Racing Bulls faced an issue with his machine, which remained on jacks due to a power unit problem. His team had worked overnight to address a similar issue on Liam Lawson’s car. Around a third of the way into the session, Norris initially led with a time of 1 minute, 19.062 seconds on soft tyres, outpacing Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar.
The session was briefly interrupted when Sergio Perez, driving for Cadillac, encountered trouble exiting the pit lane, coming to a halt on the approach to Turn 2. This incident led to a red flag. Perez reported losing his engine and experiencing a “massive brake” issue, noting that the brakes appeared to be on fire at the rear of his car. After the track was cleared and Perez was moved back to the pits, the session resumed at 12:56, allowing drivers just over 30 minutes to complete their practice programmes.
Key Moments and Driver Performances
Following the resumption, Antonelli, George Russell, and Max Verstappen finally joined the action. Antonelli’s initial lap placed him second to Norris, though he later lost his lap time for exceeding track limits. Verstappen was fifth behind his teammate Hadjar and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Hamilton also faced some issues earlier in the practice sessions, reporting problems with upshifts and downshifts, describing them as “downgraded.”
The timesheets saw rapid changes as Hamilton posted a 1 minute, 19.053 seconds to take the lead for Scuderia Ferrari, only for his teammate Leclerc to go even faster with a 1 minute, 18.668 seconds. Antonelli then positioned himself between the two Ferrari drivers before requesting a check of his Mercedes’ floor, which had made contact with the Turn 4 kerb.
In the final 15 minutes of the session, championship leader Antonelli made another strong move, recording a time of 1 minute, 18.254 seconds to briefly take the top spot. However, Norris, driving an upgraded McLaren, reclaimed the lead with a 1 minute, 18.206 seconds. Hamilton then improved his time to 1 minute, 18.056 seconds, but Norris ultimately secured the fastest time of 1 minute, 17.939 seconds, avoiding a slide through the final corner.
Antonelli finished third, ahead of Leclerc and Oscar Piastri. Russell was sixth, while Red Bull drivers Verstappen and Hadjar secured seventh and eighth positions, respectively. Hadjar described his car as “undriveable” late in the session. Lawson finished ninth for Racing Bulls, followed by the Audis of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto. Lindblad’s other VCARB 03 managed to get out in the closing stages, splitting the Alpines of Pierre Gasly and Colapinto. The Haas drivers Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman were next, with the revised Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Stroll, Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas, and Williams pair Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon completing the field, ahead of the sidelined Perez.
| Pos. | Driver | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lando Norris NOR | 1:17.939 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton HAM | +0.117s |
| 3 | Kimi Antonelli ANT | +0.129s |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc LEC | +0.352s |
| 5 | Oscar Piastri PIA | +0.499s |
Leclerc had been the quickest in the first practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix, despite an issue with his Ferrari in the closing stages. He reported that “something has broke” before his car was wheeled back into the garage. Verstappen was 0.484 seconds behind Leclerc’s pace in that session, with Hamilton finishing third. Russell, who retired from the Belgian Grand Prix after a collision with Hamilton, did not participate in the first practice session, with rookie Fred Vesti replacing him and finishing seventh.
Source: formula1.com
