
Oscar Piastri claimed the spotlight during the final practice session in Hungary, clocking the fastest lap of the hour. The McLaren driver edged out his teammate Lando Norris by a razor-thin margin, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc rounding out the top three. The McLaren pair had previously dominated earlier sessions, and once again showed strong pace as teams made final setup tweaks ahead of the afternoon’s qualifying. Although the session started slowly, things ramped up dramatically in the final half-hour, with Piastri delivering a late flyer to secure top honors.
The session began in a cautious tone, as both McLaren cars hit the track early but returned without posting timed laps. Yuki Tsunoda briefly held the top spot using medium tyres, but was soon frustrated with his car’s oversteer. Max Verstappen, still trying to shake off issues from Friday, posted a benchmark time that was quickly beaten by George Russell and Leclerc. When the McLarens finally put in their laps, Piastri soared to first, beating Norris by just 0.032s, although both were slower than Norris’ FP2 performance from the previous day.
Leclerc appeared poised to take provisional P1 after lighting up the timing charts in the first two sectors, but a misstep at Turn 12 cost him valuable tenths as he slid slightly off into the gravel. Despite this, he briefly held the lead before Piastri improved again. Meanwhile, rookie Gabriel Bortoleto impressed yet again, placing himself in the top ten with a tidy lap. Alexander Albon, however, found himself struggling near the bottom and asked his team to inspect his floor after running over the kerbs.
As the hour progressed, several drivers shifted focus from single-lap speed to long runs, leading to congested track conditions. This caught out drivers like Isack Hadjar, who criticized Norris for not yielding. Meanwhile, Piastri capitalized on the clearer final minutes to put in a stellar lap in the 1:14s. Norris followed with a strong response but fell just shy of overtaking him. Verstappen and Hadjar both had off-moments, with the Dutchman still battling rear-end instability.
The session wrapped with Lewis Hamilton showing improved pace in fourth, ahead of rising star Kimi Antonelli and a recovering Fernando Alonso in sixth. Stroll, Russell, Bortoleto, and Hulkenberg completed the top ten, while Verstappen ended in 12th after a tough outing. Towards the back, drivers like Albon, Ocon, Gasly, Tsunoda, and Hadjar struggled to put together clean laps. All eyes now shift to qualifying, set to take place at 1600 local time, where the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix will be decided.