Hungarian Grand Prix – Free Practice 3: Norris favors pole position

The surprise of Free Practice 1, Guanyu Zhou, was the first to hit the track in Free Practice 3, followed by Sergio Pérez. The weather was very cloudy and heavy, even though rain was not expected during this session.

This final preparation for the qualifications was taken seriously from the outset by Max Verstappen, who set a time of 1:18.897, two tenths ahead of a seemingly resurgent Sergio Pérez. The Dutchman then easily improved, with the hard tires (1:18.312), while ten minutes had passed.

The two Red Bulls were indeed the only two cars on the track, as it was necessary to validate the improvements. These are intended to counter a resurgent competition (which has long remained in the garage).

Max Verstappen took care to string together fast laps (1:17.938) with the track all to himself. Or almost, since Esteban Ocon took to the track in the final 15 minutes of the session.

Car number 31 was the first to fit the soft Pirelli tires, with a relatively calm lap that put him eight tenths behind Verstappen. Alexander Albon put his Williams at the top of the timesheet (1:17.646), a time that was then improved upon by the rest of the field.

The two McLarens placed themselves in the Top 3, only separated by Yuki Tsunoda. The soft tires allowed Norris to go under 1 minute 17 (1:16.931). He was followed, with 34 minutes remaining, by Daniel Ricciardo by four tenths. The two Racing Bulls seemed to cope well with the cooler temperatures at the start of the day.

Not a match with McLaren

Ferrari waited until the start of the last half-hour to climb back up the hierarchy (Sainz 3rd and Leclerc 4th), while George Russell’s Mercedes took the provisional reference (1:16.826).

At Aston Martin, they seem to want to save soft tires: Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll worked almost the entire session on medium tires, as if to work on long stints.

Lewis Hamilton, following his 104th victory at Silverstone, placed his Mercedes No. 44 in 2nd position, 222 thousandths behind George Russell.

Lando Norris’s onboard camera, on its way to set the fastest time, had a wider angle to better capture the speed of the single-seaters. The two McLarens took the top two spots from Mercedes, (Norris in 1:16.098, 44 thousandths ahead of Oscar Piastri) with twelve minutes to go before the checkered flag. Max Verstappen himself could only manage a 1:16.379 in the final ten minutes.

Nothing has really changed, except for a harmless spin for Lewis Hamilton in the second sector. Lando Norris kept the best time until the end of the final free practice session ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen. The latter went straight at the first corner in his last qualifying attempt. A hydraulic leak seems to have been detected on Guanyu Zhou’s Sauber.

The two Alpines failed far away: Pierre Gasly was only 18th and Esteban Ocon simply brought up the rear. Worrying.

The rankings will soon be available.