Lando Norris delivered a striking performance in the final practice session at the Hungarian Grand Prix, giving McLaren a genuine shot at securing their first pole position of the season. Driving the team’s newly upgraded car, Norris managed to outpace the Friday session leader, Lewis Hamilton, as well as Mercedes’ championship‑contending driver Kimi Antonelli, signalling that the British driver and his outfit could be serious contenders heading into Saturday's qualifying. The narrative heading into the weekend had been dominated by Ferrari, who had set a blistering pace in the opening practice and were widely tipped to dominate the qualifying battle. While the Scuderia remained firmly in the mix throughout the day, their dominance was challenged in the closing stages of the final practice when the reigning world champion, Hamilton, and his teammate Antonelli briefly took the top spots.
However, Norris responded with a decisive lap that reshaped the leaderboard. During the final minutes of the session, Norris and Hamilton each completed an initial flying lap on the soft tyre compound. Hamilton initially posted the quickest time, putting him at the top of the board.
Norris, however, was only a fraction slower on his first attempt, sitting in second place. Undeterred, Norris set out for a second hot‑lap, extracting every ounce of performance from the upgraded chassis. He posted a lap time of 1:17.939, eclipsing Hamilton by 0.117 seconds and moving into the lead of the timesheet.
Kimi Antonelli, who had endured a particularly challenging Friday, fought his way back into the upper tier of the field and recorded the third‑fastest lap, just 0.129 seconds shy of Norris’s benchmark. This placed the young Mercedes driver firmly in the mix and suggested that the team could still mount a credible challenge despite earlier setbacks. In contrast, George Russell, Antonelli’s teammate, continued to struggle with the car’s balance and finished sixth overall, a full 0.6 seconds slower than Norris’s impressive benchmark.
Charles Leclerc, driving for Ferrari, was positioned fourth, trailing the leader by roughly 0.3 seconds, while McLaren’s other driver, Oscar Piastri, occupied fifth place, a tenth of a second further back. Red Bull, traditionally a dominant force, experienced a comparatively muted session. Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar recorded the seventh and eighth fastest times respectively, indicating that the Hungarian circuit’s high‑speed layout may have presented unique aerodynamic challenges for the team’s current package.
Sky Sports F1 analyst Martin Brundle summed up the atmosphere succinctly, noting, "It's so close, as it always is here. It bodes incredibly well for this afternoon." His comment underscored the tightly contested nature of the field and the potential for an exciting qualifying showdown.
Beyond the front‑running cars, the midfield battle appeared to be heating up. Racing Bulls, represented by Liam Lawson, secured ninth place, while Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg slotted into tenth. Arvid Lindblad, also with Racing Bulls, managed only a thirteenth‑fastest time after completing a mere six laps; a power‑unit change forced the British rookie to sit out most of the session, limiting his ability to showcase any real pace. Cadillac encountered a technical hiccup when a brake fire forced Sergio Perez to abort his lap at Turn One, sending him into the runoff area.
The incident prevented the Mexican driver from returning to the track for the remainder of the session, highlighting the fine line between performance and reliability on the demanding Budapest circuit. Lance Stroll, driving an extensively upgraded Aston Martin, finally returned to the track after missing the second practice session on Friday due to a rear‑suspension failure that caused a spin in the opening practice.
The improvements to the AMR26 were evident; the car, which had spent much of the season languishing at the back of the grid, outqualified both Williams and Cadillac. Stroll posted a best time that placed him 18th, while teammate Fernando Alonso secured 17th, both roughly 2.4 seconds off the overall fastest time but a clear step forward for the Newey‑led team. The schedule for the remainder of the weekend was packed with action.
On Saturday, July 25, the day began with an F2 sprint at 1:10 pm, followed by the build‑up to the Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying at 2:15 pm. The qualifying session itself kicked off at 3:00 pm, with the results expected to shape the grid for the main race. Later, at 5:00 pm, Ted’s Qualifying Notebook provided expert analysis of the session’s outcomes. Sunday, July 26, promised a full day of racing across multiple categories.
The F3 feature race started at 7:35 am, followed by the Porsche Supercup at 9:05 am, and the F2 feature race at 10:20 am. The Hungarian Grand Prix build‑up began at 12:30 pm, leading into the Grand Prix itself at 2:00 pm. The race concluded with the chequered flag at 4:00 pm, after which the post‑race reaction and Ted’s Notebook recap were scheduled for 5:00 pm.
All events were broadcast live on Sky Sports F1, with streaming options available via NOW, offering a contract‑free, cancel‑anytime service. In summary, Norris’s performance in the final practice session not only demonstrated the potential of McLaren’s upgraded package but also injected a fresh element of unpredictability into the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend. With the top three drivers separated by mere tenths of a second, the qualifying session promises to be a tightly contested affair, and the subsequent race could see a reshuffling of the traditional hierarchy, especially if the midfield teams continue to extract performance gains from their recent upgrades.
The stage is set for an exhilarating showdown in Budapest, where every fraction of a second will matter.