Practice 3 Report - Norris leads McLaren 1-2

Oscar Piastri, Hungarian GP 2024
© McLaren

In the Practice 3 session at the Hungarian Grand Prix, McLaren showcased remarkable performance with a one-two finish. Lando Norris led the pack, clocking a lap time 1.7 seconds faster than his previous best in FP2, while his teammate, Oscar Piastri, finished a close second, just 0.044 seconds behind. The cooler conditions, with a 5º Celsius drop in air temperature and a significant 10º Celsius decrease in track temperature from Friday, contributed to the dramatic improvement in lap times.

McLaren’s overnight adjustments to the MCL38 proved fruitful. The team focused on making the car more stable in faster corners without compromising overall performance. Norris’s flawless execution in the final practice session, despite a minor mistake in the last corner, highlighted the car’s enhanced handling. Piastri, who had issues with his car on Friday, found himself much more comfortable and delivered a stellar lap to secure second place.

Red Bull adopted a different strategy during FP3, concentrating on gathering data for their new package. Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez spent most of the session on Hard tyres, conducting 12-lap runs with high fuel loads to simulate race conditions. Despite this focus on race pace, Verstappen’s times on low fuel with Hard tyres were promising for Red Bull. However, his transition to Soft tyres for qualifying simulations was less successful. Verstappen made several setup tweaks but struggled with mistakes, including a lock-up at Turn 1, which hampered his final flying lap. Pérez also faced difficulties, ending the session in 13th place, 0.6 seconds off Verstappen’s time.

Mercedes continued to show strong form, with George Russell securing fourth place, narrowly beating Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz by 0.075 seconds. Russell excelled in the first sector, while his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, was particularly quick in the second sector. However, Hamilton’s session ended with a significant spin at Turn 9, relegating him to 10th place.

Ferrari’s performance saw Sainz maintaining an edge over Charles Leclerc. Sainz delivered a consistent performance to finish fifth, while Leclerc’s session was marred by a lock-up at Turn 1 and difficulty putting together a clean lap. As a result, Leclerc ended up 11th, nearly 0.2 seconds behind his teammate.

Daniel Ricciardo emerged as a surprise contender, finishing sixth fastest. Ricciardo outpaced Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg, and Yuki Tsunoda, who rounded out the top ten. The gaps between these drivers were minimal, with less than a tenth of a second separating P6 from P9. Tsunoda, like several other drivers, experienced a lock-up at Turn 1 during his Soft tyre run, impacting his ability to challenge Ricciardo’s time.

The FP3 results set the stage for an exciting qualifying session. McLaren’s strong performance suggests they could be serious contenders, while Red Bull’s race pace indicates they remain a formidable force despite their struggles in qualifying simulations. Mercedes and Ferrari also showed potential, adding to the anticipation for the afternoon’s qualifying battles.

As teams and drivers prepare for qualifying, the Hungarian Grand Prix promises a thrilling showdown, with McLaren leading the charge and Red Bull poised to leverage their race pace advantage.