Norris Dominates Friday Practice for 2025 Hungarian GP

McLaren’s Lando Norris dominated Friday Practice at 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix around the Hungaroring. 

Norris topped both FP1 and FP2 from his teammate, Oscar Piastri, whilst Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc looks to be the closest challenger to the McLaren duo as he finished third in both sessions.

 

FP1

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was first out on track on medium tyres and set 1m 20.101 but Piastri found 0.566 seconds to go fastest on 1m 19.535 and 0.001s clear of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Norris displaced his teammate by 0.122s but Mercedes’ George Russell went fastest with 1m 19.111 in the seventh minute, before Leclerc, Hamilton then Piastri displaced him a few minutes later only for Norris to lower the benchmark time to 1m 17.631.

Norris however traded fastest laps in the 20th minute with Leclerc who went fastest by 0.211s before Norris responded with 1m 16.837 to top the opening half-hour of running, whilst Sauber’s FP1 driver – Paul Aron stopped at turn 13 with a “critical alarm” on his systems.

Attention soon switched to the soft tyre runs but nobody could beat Norris as the Brit topped the session with 1m 16.052 from Piastri and Leclerc as 0.217s split the top three.

Aston Martin underwent a late change of driver just hours before FP1 as Fernando Alonso was unable to participate due to a back muscle injury, which meant that Felipe Drugovich stepped into the cockpit and managed the 16th fastest lap time.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Lando Norris	McLaren	1m 16.052
2	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+ 0.019
3	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+ 0.217
4	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls	+ 0.629
5	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+ 0.682
6	Oliver Bearman	Haas	+ 0.826
7	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+ 0.828
8	George Russell	Mercedes	+ 0.873
9	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+ 0.888
10	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+ 0.906
11	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 0.932
12	Esteban Ocon	Haas	+ 0.952
13	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+ 1.071
14	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+ 1.132
15	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+ 1.143
16	Felipe Drugovich	Aston Martin	+ 1.217
17	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull	+ 1.341
18	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+ 1.412
19	Gabriel Bortoleto	Sauber	+ 1.600
20	Paul Aron	Sauber	+ 3.736

 

FP2

Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg was first out onto the circuit and quickly set 1m 19.487 as the initial benchmark time but several drivers soon usurped his fastest lap, with Norris fastest on 1m 16.916 once everyone completed their first flying laps.

Piastri however found 0.219s in the 16th minute to go fastest but Norris rebounded with 1m 16.525 just two minutes later to go quickest from his teammate by 0.172s as the opening runs came to an end.

Once attention turned to the soft tyre qualifying simulations, Stroll was the first driver to disrupt the top of the timesheets with 1m 16.221 in the 28th minute, but Piastri posted 1m 15.915 to displace the Canadian by 0.306s.

Norris however proved unbeatable as he delivered 1m 15.624 to finish as the fastest driver of the session from Piastri, whilst Leclerc edged out Stroll for third as Alonso returned to the cockpit with a strong fifth-placed lap.

Verstappen meanwhile is under investigation for an infringement which saw him hurl a towel out of his cockpit in an uncharacteristic move from the reigning champion at turn three.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Lando Norris	McLaren	1m 15.624
2	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+ 0.291
3	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+ 0.399
4	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+ 0.495
5	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+ 0.609
6	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+ 0.705
7	George Russell	Mercedes	+ 0.793
8	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls	+ 0.803
9	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull	+ 0.861
10	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+ 0.896
11	Oliver Bearman	Haas	+ 0.943
12	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	+ 1.056
13	Esteban Ocon	Haas	+ 1.080
14	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+ 1.167
15	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+ 1.188
16	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+ 1.250
17	Gabriel Bortoleto	Sauber	+ 1.322
18	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 1.397
19	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+ 1.419
20	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+ 1.535