McLaren fire warning shots with blistering pace in FP3 with Norris fastest
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Lando Norris has finished the third free practice session as the fastest driver in Hungary. McLaren are looking very strong this weekend, with Oscar Piastri's P2 time backing that up. Max Verstappen finished third but did not seem pleased with his Red Bull Racing car.
Once again, McLaren impressed the most during practice in Hungary, with a disappointed Verstappen closest. Sergio Perez spent much of the session in the garage and could only set the 13th fastest time, creating pressure for qualifying on Saturday afternoon. There seems to be a bigger gap than recently seen between the front runners and Mercedes and Ferrari.
There was a place in the top ten for Daniel Ricciardo, Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda. Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top ten but finished the session with a spin at turn nine.
What happened during FP3 in Hungary?
The session started very quietly, with just Verstappen and Sergio Perez on the track. Red Bull Racing opted to complete these laps on the hard tyre, leaving them both with just one set for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Verstappen was not immediately satisfied with his first runs on the hard tyre. On the team radio, Verstappen revealed that he suffered from understeer in the middle sector. He also did not have very much grip at the rear of his car, which made him hesitant to adjust his front wing.
After 20 minutes, Williams were the first to use the soft tyre and start upping the pace. Alex Albon spent a brief amount of time at the top of the time sheets before George Russell and the two McLaren drivers took over at the top.
An indication that the track was ramping up came when Yuki Tsunoda jumped up to P2 and beat Piastri. The VCARB driver was still around half a second down on Norris' best time. Though Daniel Ricciardo managed to set a very similar time, suggesting VCARB might be strong this weekend. After a crash yesterday, Charles Leclerc had a snap at turn four, but the man from Monaco regained control this time around. His teammate Sainz had a smoother first push lap, putting him second at the time. Leclerc later matched him.
At the halfway point, Russell took himself to the top of the timesheets. His teammate wasn't able to match it initially and finished more than six-tenths behind after sliding around in sector three. Piastri was next through and aced the third sector to go third overall. On a brand new set of tyres, Hamilton jumped to P2 but was still behind Russell's best.
With 15 minutes to go, Norris upped the pace. He went nearly half a second faster than Russell, and his teammate almost matched him straight after. Verstappen couldn't match Norris and shook his head as he crossed the line with a twitchy rear end causing him problems throughout the lap.