Lando Norris pips Lewis Hamilton in final Hungarian Grand Prix practice

McLaren’s Lando Norris has topped the timing boards in the final practice session of the Hungarian Grand Prix, pipping Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.

Feature image credit: Pirelli

Following Ferrari’s dominant start to the weekend, McLaren and Norris have arrived to spoil the Italian’s party as the defending world champion topped the timing sheets in the final hour of practice, around the iconic Hungaroring.

The McLaren driver set the best time on the board of the session, a 1m 17.939s, which stood just over a tenth faster than his closest rivals. Hamilton rounded out the session in second, 0.117s off the pace, whilst Mercedes’ championship leader, Kimi Antonelli, was just 0.129 seconds behind.

When the session got underway, no one was eager to head straight out, with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto being the first driver out a few minutes after the session started, slowly followed out by the likes of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg.

However, just before 15 minutes of the session expired, everyone else started to pull out onto the circuit. But the session was quickly red-flagged.

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Cadillac’s Sergio Perez was unable to finish his timed lap when he suffered a mechanical failure in his car, as the Mexican nearly lost control breaking into turn two. He managed to swerve his car to a stop on the run-off, with his rear brakes smoking.

The session shortly resumed, and the drivers began leapfrogging each other with the fastest times, finally ending with a top three of Norris, Hamilton and Antonelli, respectively.

Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad missed most of the session as the Racing Bulls team worked on the Briton’s car throughout Free Practice 3. With less than five minutes on the clock, the Racing Bulls driver was able to finally get out on track to gather some vital on-track knowledge ahead of qualifying. Lindblad was only able to best 13th fastest overall.

Pirelli claims ‘uncertainty’ of Hungary Grand Prix tyre strategies after Friday’s action

FP3 Result

1. Lando Norris, McLaren – 1m 17.939s
2. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari +0.117s
3. Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes +0.129s
4. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +0.352s
5. Oscar Piastri, McLaren +0.499s
6. George Russell, Mercedes +0.602s
7. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing +0.717s
8. Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing +1.004s
9. Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls +1.149s
10. Nico Hulkenberg, Audi +1.221s
11. Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi +1.399s
12. Pierre Gasly, Alpine +1.784s
13. Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls +1.956s
14. Franco Colapinto, Alpine +2.116s
15. Esteban Ocon, Haas +2.356sc
16. Oliver Bearman, Haas +2.373s
17. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin +2.454s
18. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin +2.994s
19. Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac +3.360s
20. Carlos Sainz, Williams +3.467s
21. Alexander Albon +3.574s
22. Sergio Perez, Cadillac – No Time Set

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.