Lando Norris dominated the second practice session for the Hungarian GP, as both McLaren drivers pushed each other to the limit.
Green light
At the green light, it was Nico Hulkenberg who led the cars onto the circuit. The queue was somewhat smaller initially, as teams worked frantically on setup changes. Fernando Alonso took to the track for the first time, having sat out FP1.
George Russell led the field once the first runs were complete, from the Racing Bulls of Isack Hadjar. The McLarens, Ferraris and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen did not set a lap time until almost ten minutes into the session.
Leclerc jumped to the top of the standings after his first run. Oscar Piastri lost time on his first run, running wide at Turn 4. Team-mate Lando Norris knocked Charles Leclerc off the top spot, moving 0.265s clear. Verstappen’s first effort was over a second shy of Norris, placing him 13th.
Piastri responded to Norris with 15 minutes of FP2 at the Hungarian GP gone, moving two tenths clear of Norris at the head of the timesheets.
Kimi Antonelli and and George Russell were in fourth and fifth, but still over half a second clear of the two McLarens.
Red Bull struggled with a lack of balance. Both Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda fed back that the car was not behaving correctly. Verstappen radioed his team to say the car was driving ‘on ice’. The drivers languished in ninth and tenth.
Soft tyre runs in Hungarian GP FP2
Lance Stroll led the field after the cars switched to soft tyres once again. The Canadian was three tenths clear of Norris after his lap. This led to a domino effect as the rest of the field followed suit.
Piastri moved back to the top of the timesheets with his run. Lando Norris then beat his team-mate by two tenths to set the fastest time in FP2 for the Hungarian GP.
Verstappen’s struggles continued, his soft tyre run only good enough for eighth place. Team-mate Tsunoda did not fare much better, moving into ninth.
Leclerc moved into third, over half a second away from Norris with 25 minutes to go. Hamilton seemingly struggling in the middle sector, over seven tenths away from Norris.
Stroll’s next run put him back into third. Team-mate Alonso confirmed the pace of the AMR25, slotting into fifth.
Norris, pushing hard, dipped a wheel into the grass and ran wide at the last corner. The McLaren was able to continue after a trip into the runoff.
Verstappen continued to struggle, now down in 14th. The Dutchman complained of no balance, but was told his tyres were cold. He did not improve over the rest of the session.
The final 15 minutes were dedicated to race runs, with no improvements from the drivers. McLaren led its second one-two of the day, with Leclerc four-tenths of a second behind.
Session Classification
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Charles Leclerc
- Lance Stroll
- Fernando Alonso
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Isack Hadjar
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Kimi Antonelli
- Oliver Bearman
- Nico Hulkenberg
- Esteban Ocon
- Max Verstappen
- Liam Lawson
- Carlos Sainz
- Gabriel Bortoleto
- Alex Albon
- Pierre Gasly
- Franco Colapinto
