F1 – Norris continues to set the pace at the Hungaroring ahead of Piastri and Leclerc

Lando Norris continued to set the pace for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix going two tenths of a second quicker than team-mate Oscar Piastri in the second practice session at the Hungaroring, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in P3, just under 0.4s off top spot. 

At the start of the session Nico Hülkenberg was the first man out on track, returning to the cockpit after sitting out FP1 in favour of test driver Paul Aron. The Estonian had a troubled session that ended in mechanical failure but Sauber were able to get the car back up and running for Hulkenberg and FP2. 

Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda set the early pace with a lap of 1:17.645 set on Medium tyres, but the Japanese was soon eclipsed by George Russell who took P1 with a 1:17.442.

FP1’s fastest man Lando Norris was soon into P1, however, with the McLaren driver setting a new benchmark of 1:16.916. Oscar Piastri moved to P1 with a 1:16.697 but Norris was quickly back in control, posting a 1:16.525 to return to P1 as the opening session’s third quickest driver Charles Leclerc took up the same spot in FP2, 0.478 off the lead. 

Behind the top three during the Medium tyre phase, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli slotted into fourth place, six tenths off top spot, with Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar fifth. Further back, the Red Bulls of Yuki Tsunoda and Max Verstappen sat in 10th and 11th respectively, with the latter complaining that steering the RB21 around the Hungaroring was like “driving on ice”. 

With half an hour gone, Lance Stroll bolted on a set of Soft tyres and the Aston Martin driver jumped to top spot with a lap of 1:16.221. 

Piastri then emerged on the red-banded C5 compound tyres and the Australian moved to P1 on 1:15.915, three tenths clear of the Canadian. Norris was lapping quicker, however, and the Briton’s qualifying simulations netted him a time of 1:15.624 and P1, 0.291s clear of Piastri. 

The change of compound brought little joy to Verstappen, however. The defending champion could only manage a lap of 1:17.791 to sit in 12th place. The Dutchman was also seen throwing an object that had been left in the cockpit of his car onto the track in Turn 3, which compromised his lap and led to Race Control saying they would investigate the incident after the session. Tsunoda fared better, taking P9, though he was still eight tenths of a second adrift of P1. 

Stroll improved to a time of 1:16.119 but he eventually lost P3 to Leclerc who posted a lap of 1:16.023 to go just under a tenth clear of the Aston Martin driver. Fernando Alonso, who sat out FP1 due to a back complaint, rose to fifth with a lap of 1:16.329, which he then improved by a tenth. 

Behind the Spaniard Hamilton took sixth for Ferrari ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and Hadjar. Tsunoda held on to ninth place ahead of Antonelli, Haas’ Oliver Bearman, Kick Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg and the second Haas of Esteban Ocon. 

The field then moved back to harder compound tyres, and there were no further improvements. Verstappen, now on Medium tyres again, was no happier and late in the session the Dutchman got on the radio to tell his race engineer that his car was “basically undriveable” and he ended the session in P14. 

2025 FIA Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:15.624 27 208.552
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:15.915 0.291 30 207.753
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:16.023 0.399 28 207.458
4 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:16.119 0.495 28 207.196
5 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:16.233 0.609 25 206.886
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:16.329 0.705 28 206.626
7 George Russell Mercedes 1:16.417 0.793 27 206.388
8 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:16.427 0.803 30 206.361
9 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:16.485 0.861 30 206.205
10 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:16.520 0.896 26 206.110
11 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:16.567 0.943 27 205.984
12 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:16.680 1.056 31 205.680
13 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:16.704 1.080 29 205.616
14 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:16.791 1.167 25 205.383
15 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:16.812 1.188 29 205.327
16 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:16.874 1.250 32 205.161
17 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:16.946 1.322 29 204.969
18 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:17.021 1.397 30 204.770
19 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:17.043 1.419 25 204.711
20 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 1:17.159 1.535 29 204.403