McLaren’s Lando Norris Outpaces Max Verstappen in Hungarian GP Practice Two

McLaren appear to be in a strong position to challenge for a win after Lando Norris outpaced Max Verstappen in a revised Red Bull, while Charles Leclerc crashed his Ferrari into the barriers during the Practice Two session. Norris, who is Verstappen’s nearest challenger in the championship, showcased impressive pace in his McLaren, outperforming the rest of the leading F1 pack to secure the top spot. The Briton’s best lap on the soft-tyre runs put him 0.243s ahead of the second-placed Red Bull.

Moreover, Carlos Sainz, who had set the pace in the opening session, secured the third position for Ferrari, albeit almost four tenths off Norris’ pace. The Mercedes team, winners of the past two grands prix, were nearly half a second back in fifth with George Russell. Sergio Perez, under pressure, managed to secure the fourth position, two tenths away from his teammate Verstappen, despite not having all of Red Bull’s car upgrades for the weekend. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton, the winner of the British GP, was seventh quickest in the other Mercedes.

On the other hand, it was a challenging session for Leclerc, who crashed out after just 16 minutes, losing control of his car and colliding with the barriers. Ferrari will now assess the consequences of the crash in terms of car damage for the remainder of the weekend.

Despite the setback, the Scuderia found solace in the fact that the car appeared more competitive following revisions to its floor. This is particularly encouraging as the slower-speed circuit should better suit their car.

In other notable performances, Nico Hulkenberg finished sixth at the past two races and his teammate Kevin Magnussen claimed the same position for Haas in Friday’s second session at the Hungaroring, just ahead of Hamilton. Additionally, Daniel Ricciardo showed promising pace, securing the eighth-quickest time in the second Red Bull ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.

Hungarian GP Practice Two Timesheet

Driver	Team	Time
1) Lando Norris	McLaren	1:17.788
2) Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+0.243
3) Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	+0.397
4) Sergio Perez	Red Bull	+0.467
5) George Russell	Mercedes	+0.506
6) Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+0.527
7) Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+0.575
8) Daniel Ricciardo	RB	+0.583
9) Alex Albon	Williams	+0.726
10) Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+0.731
11) Valtteri Bottas	Sauber	+0.798
12) Logan Sargeant	Williams	+0.823
13) Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+0.830
14) Esteban Ocon	Alpine	+0.966
15) Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	+1.003
16) Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+1.100
17) Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+1.391
18) Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+1.498
19) Yuki Tsunoda	RB	+1.818
20) Zhou Guanyu	Sauber	+2.279