Lando Norris ended Ferrari’s run at the top of the timesheets by beating Lewis Hamilton to the fastest time in Hungarian GP FP3, setting up a closely contested qualifying session at the Hungaroring. The reigning world champion produced a 1:17.939 lap to finish 0.117 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton, while championship leader Kimi Antonelli completed the top three for Mercedes.
Ferrari red lost some of its intensity in final practice and began to resemble papaya orange. After Ferrari had dominated both Friday sessions, Lando Norris put McLaren on top in the final hour of running before qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Lando Norris ends Ferrari’s run in Hungarian GP FP3
Lando Norris found his decisive improvement with seven minutes remaining, producing a cleaner and more precise final sector. His 1:17.939 benchmark made him the first driver to break the 1:18 barrier during Saturday’s running at the Hungaroring.
The most significant difference came in the middle sector, where Lando Norris gained approximately four-tenths of a second over the Ferrari drivers. The McLaren MCL40 was closely matched with the SF-26 through the opening sector but surrendered a noticeable amount of time in the final part of the lap.
The result represented an encouraging development for McLaren after the team arrived in Budapest with a major MCL40 upgrade and flexible rear-wing package. However, Ferrari’s strength in the opening and final sectors ensured that the overall gap remained small heading into qualifying.
Lewis Hamilton leads Ferrari challenge as Charles Leclerc takes fourth
Lewis Hamilton delivered another competitive performance in the first Ferrari, finishing only 0.117 seconds behind Lando Norris. The seven-time world champion continued his strong run of form and remained firmly in contention for pole position at a circuit where his previous success has made Lewis Hamilton’s Hungarian Grand Prix record one of the weekend’s major talking points.
Charles Leclerc also showed encouraging pace in the second Ferrari, although his fastest lap contained several small mistakes. The Monegasque driver finished fourth, more than three-tenths behind Lando Norris, but the untidy nature of the lap suggested that the final margin did not fully reflect the SF-26’s potential.
Ferrari therefore remained competitive despite losing the top position for the first time during the weekend. Its performance through the first and third sectors also offered encouragement before qualifying, even though McLaren held a clear advantage through the Hungaroring’s middle sector.
Kimi Antonelli takes third despite Mercedes understeer
Kimi Antonelli placed his Mercedes between the two Ferrari drivers. The Italian had missed one of Friday’s practice sessions after handing his W17 to Frederik Vesti, but quickly demonstrated that he could be part of the fight for pole position.
Kimi Antonelli finished third, just 0.012 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton and 0.129 seconds away from Lando Norris. That performance supported Mercedes’ pre-weekend belief that the W17 could challenge Ferrari at the Hungaroring.
There was nevertheless a clear weakness to address. The number 12 Mercedes suffered from significant understeer, particularly through the final sector. Kimi Antonelli discussed the problem with his race engineer over the radio, and Mercedes will probably attempt to make changes before qualifying to improve his confidence in the Silver Arrow.
George Russell experienced a much more difficult session. At a circuit where outright top speed is less influential than at venues such as Spa-Francorchamps, George Russell finished approximately half a second behind Kimi Antonelli and six-tenths away from Lando Norris.
That represented a substantial gap given the potential Mercedes has demonstrated this season. It was also notable following the team’s efforts to understand the causes of George Russell’s recent deployment problems, although the Hungaroring’s layout should reduce the impact of a straight-line speed deficit.
Oscar Piastri trails Lando Norris as Red Bull struggle
While Lando Norris led the session, Oscar Piastri finished fifth, exactly half a second behind his McLaren team-mate. The Australian continued to struggle to extract the same performance from the MCL40, leaving him with work to do before qualifying.
Red Bull endured an even more difficult FP3. Max Verstappen finished seventh, approximately seven-tenths away from the fastest time, while Isack Hadjar was eighth and more than one second off the pace.
Isack Hadjar delivered an especially blunt assessment shortly before the end of the session. “Undriveable,” the former Racing Bulls driver said over the radio while attempting to describe the behaviour of his Red Bull. The difficult session came as Isack Hadjar’s performances and his potential to become an increasingly important figure within Red Bull continue to attract attention.
Arvid Lindblad loses most of FP3 after power unit change
Racing Bulls continued to establish itself as the fifth-fastest team, with Liam Lawson securing ninth position. The New Zealander finished only 0.145 seconds behind Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull.
Arvid Lindblad’s session, by contrast, barely began. His VCARB 03 remained on stands in the garage after Racing Bulls decided to replace its Red Bull-Ford power unit as a precaution. The rookie was consequently forced to watch almost the entire session from the pit wall.
Arvid Lindblad was eventually able to complete a late flying lap and climb to 13th position. Missing so much track time is nevertheless likely to represent a significant handicap ahead of qualifying.
Audi enter the top-10 fight as Williams fall to the bottom
At a circuit where maximum speed is not particularly important, Audi emerged as a contender for a place inside the top 10. Nico Hulkenberg finished 10th, one position ahead of team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto.
Alpine found the session more difficult, with Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto finishing 12th and 14th respectively. Haas also failed to shine, although Esteban Ocon managed to beat Oliver Bearman by just 0.017 seconds.
Aston Martin took the small consolation of finishing ahead of both Cadillacs and the two Williams cars. Fernando Alonso was 17th, 2.4 seconds away from Lando Norris, while Lance Stroll followed approximately half a second behind.
Lance Stroll had missed the entire second practice session because Aston Martin did not have the necessary replacement parts available. Those components arrived from Silverstone on Saturday morning, allowing the Canadian to return to the track for FP3.
Valtteri Bottas finished 19th and ahead of both Williams drivers. That was encouraging for Cadillac but represented another deeply disappointing result for the Grove-based team. If Williams continues to fall down the competitive order, the team could face a genuine risk of losing Carlos Sainz at the end of the season.
Sergio Perez stoppage causes Hungarian GP FP3 red flag
Sergio Perez’s final practice session ended only 21 minutes after the green light. Having travelled just a few hundred metres beyond the pit exit, the Mexican was forced to stop his Cadillac MAC-26 beside the track with smoke coming from the rear of the car. The incident caused the first red flag of the session.
After parking the car, Sergio Perez reported what he believed to be a power unit problem. Television images, however, appeared to indicate that the stoppage may instead have been caused by the braking system.
If Cadillac confirms a brake-related failure, it would represent an important warning for the American team. Cadillac brought changes to its braking system for the Hungarian Grand Prix specifically to prevent a repeat of the problems encountered in Austria only a few weeks earlier.
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