Lando Norris led team-mate Oscar Piastri to the best time on the table in practice 3, as McLaren set blistering speed against likely favourites for pole position later on Saturday at the Hungary Grand Prix.
Norris and Piastri found themselves separated by just 0. 044 seconds in an impressive quest for the MCL38s at the twisty Hungaroring, with the Brit the quicker of the two thanks to a lap of 1:16. 098.
“It’s phenomenal to watch!” said Sky Sports F1’s Nico Rosberg after seeing Norris’ fastest lap on board.
“It’s so close to perfection for the driver and the car. Magical. Incredible. “
Max Verstappen finished third behind McLaren’s nearest rival, but the Red Bull driver’s deficit to the leader ended up being 0. 281 seconds in one of F1’s shortest laps.
Regarding McLaren’s fast pace, Rosberg added: “It’s perfect, it’s on rails. This car looks like a surely dominant force today. “
Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez, who finished 13th, had spent most of the consultation lagging behind their main rivals by running on harder tyres in preparation paints for Sunday’s race.
When they finally switched to comfortable tyres for the final stages, Verstappen didn’t seem particularly pleased with the handling of his RB20 on what turned out to be his fastest lap.
Apparently still due to a better set-up for a single lap in some other late race on soft tyres, the world champion ended the consultation by going off the track after a big lock-up in the first corner.
The one-lap deficit with respect to the flying McLarens is even greater for Mercedes, winners of the last two Grand Prix and with a streak of four consecutive pole positions in Hungary, and Ferrari.
George Russell was the Mercedes leader in fourth place. 0. 466 seconds Norris, with Carlos Sainz behind the fastest Ferrari, a further tenth back in fifth place.
However, things were trickier for Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in the teams’ other respective cars. Hamilton finished 10th fastest by switching to comfortable tyres and then spun at Turn 11 in the final stages of the session.
After missing most of Friday’s second free practice consultation after a crash at four, Leclerc returned to the track 0. 7sec off the pace, in 11th place.
With Hamilton and Leclerc completing on the fringes of the most sensible 10, a number of midfielders on the grid took the opportunity to display promise forward of qualifying and recommend there may just be some shocks in the war for ultimate positions in Q3.
Daniel Ricciardo continued his strong start to the weekend by posting an impressive sixth fastest time, with teammate Yuki Tsunoda also in the top ten in ninth position to underline the RB team’s evident competitiveness so far.
Williams’ Alex Albon and Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg took seventh and eighth respectively, and Aston Martins rounded out 10th in the open air despite another round of upgrades being added to the AMR24 this weekend.
Like the Red Bulls, Aston Martin spent most of the consultation on hard tyres and Fernando Alonso, who was 14th, was hampered from switching to soft tyres due to yellow flags due to Hamilton’s spin.
Saturday July 8:15 p. m. : Preparation for Hungarian GP qualifying 3:00 p. m. : Hungarian GP qualifying 5:00 p. m. : Ted’s classification book
Sunday July 21:20: Featured Race F39:00: Featured Race F211:00: Porsche Supercup 12:30: Grand Prix Sunday – Preparation for the Hungary GP 14:00: HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX 16:00: Chequered flag: from the Hungary GP 17:00: Ted’s notebook
The next prevent in F1 will be the Hungary Grand Prix in Budapest, from July 19 to 21. You can watch each and each consultation live on Sky Sports F1. Stream each and each F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month subscription – No contract, cancel anytime