Lando Norris set the fastest time in FP3 in Hungary ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli, while Ferrari saw its lead shrink before qualifying.
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After a Friday largely dominated by Ferrari, the final free practice session of the Hungarian Grand Prix shuffled the cards. Lando Norris proved fastest with a 1’17″939, confirming that McLaren will indeed be in the battle for pole position.
Lewis Hamilton finished in second place, ahead of Kimi Antonelli, while Charles Leclerc had to settle for fourth. The extremely small gaps between the top four suggest a particularly competitive qualifying session.
The session took place in slightly warmer conditions than the day before, with 24 °C in the air and a track temperature reaching 50 °C. Part of the track surface had also been redone overnight to address the numerous criticisms made by the drivers on Friday.
A disrupted start to the session
The first laps mainly concerned Franco Colapinto and Lance Stroll, both eager to make up for lost time on Friday. The Argentinian had ended FP2 in the wall, while the Canadian had been deprived of the second session after the failure of his rear suspension.
Meanwhile, Racing Bulls mechanics continued to work on Arvid Lindblad’s car, which suffered an electrical problem that kept him in his garage for a long time.
A few minutes later, Ferrari and Oscar Piastri finally entered the track. The Australian quickly took the lead on soft tires before Lando Norris set an impressive time of 1’19″062 to take a clear lead.
Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes trade blows
The session then intensified with qualifying simulations. George Russell first moved up to second place, while Kimi Antonelli saw an initial fast lap canceled for exceeding track limits.
Lewis Hamilton then seemed to have taken the upper hand by beating Norris’s time by just nine thousandths. Isack Hadjar also confirmed Racing Bulls’ good form by coming within a few hundredths of the two men.
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Charles Leclerc then responded with the first lap under the 1’19 mark of the session before Kimi Antonelli struck even harder. The Italian provisionally took the lead, but his advantage lasted only a few moments before Norris immediately regained control.
Hamilton narrowly misses out to Norris
In the final minutes, Lewis Hamilton seemed capable of reclaiming first place thanks to an excellent start to the lap. The Ferrari driver, however, made a mistake in the chicane, ruining his chances of improving his time.
Norris, meanwhile, was no longer troubled and maintained the lead with a lap of 1’17″939. Hamilton ultimately finished second ahead of Antonelli, while Leclerc missed out on the podium.
Oscar Piastri completed the top 5 ahead of George Russell, Max Verstappen, Isack Hadjar, Liam Lawson and Nico Hülkenberg. Arvid Lindblad, for his part, was only able to take to the track less than two minutes before the checkered flag after the resolution of his technical problems.
Qualifying more open than ever
While Ferrari had impressed on Friday by dominating the first two free practice sessions, this final dress rehearsal shows that McLaren and Mercedes have significantly closed the gap.
Lando Norris now appears to be a serious contender for pole position, while Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli also seem capable of aiming for the front row. Behind them, Max Verstappen remains on the lookout despite an RB22 that is still tricky to exploit.
Everything therefore suggests that qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix will offer a particularly close fight between Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes, with only a few hundredths likely to make the difference in the race for pole.
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FP3 Classification of the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP:
