McLaren head into qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix as the fastest team after Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were quickest in final practice.
Norris set the best time of the final session with a 1’16.098, just under half a tenth faster than his team mate with Max Verstappen almost three tenths off from Norris’s best.
After Friday produced one of the hottest on-track days of the last 20 years, the final hour of practice on Saturday morning provided significantly cooler temperatures thanks to the overcast skies overlooking the Hungaroring. The surface measured little more than 40C as the session began compared to 60C yesterday.
Once again, drivers had trouble getting their cars slowed down into the few heavy braking zones on the circuit. Carlos Sainz Jnr, Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll ran off track by locking up heavily into turn one, while Charles Leclerc was seen with tyre smoke trailing from his right-front wheel approaching turn four, the scene of his Friday crash.
In the later phase of the session, Norris fitted a fresh set of soft tyres and posted a new fastest lap of the weekend with a 1’16.098. That would prove the best time of the session, with only 0.044s separating the two McLarens at the chequered flag.
Verstappen was third-fastest, just under three tenths off from the best time set by Norris. George Russell was fourth as the fastest Mercedes drivers, with Sainz half a second from Norris in fifth place.
It was a promising session for some of the traditional midfield teams. RB had both drivers in the top ten with Daniel Ricciardo in sixth and Yuki Tsunoda ninth, barely a tenth apart from each other. Alexander Albon continued to surprised at a circuit Williams did not expect to be strong at by posting the seventh-fastest time, while Nico Hulkenberg was eighth for Haas.
Lewis Hamilton spun at turn nine when he lost the rear of his Mercedes, coming to a rest on the grass facing backwards over the track. However, he managed to recover onto the circuit and continue, finishing the session in tenth.
Leclerc was only 11th in his Ferrari after his Friday crash, but admitted that he had not been pushing as hard as he could have in the final sector of his fastest lap. Sergio Perez was well out of the top ten in 13th, but reported being happy with the balance of his revised Red Bull, with the two Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were only 14th and 15th, respectively.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2024…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at RaceFans…