Leclerc Tops Hungarian GP Practice at 1:18.877 as Hamilton Trails by 0.037s

Q: Did Ferrari truly master the chaotic Hungaroring, or will McLaren's hidden pace steal the crucial pole position?

Ferrari look like the Friday benchmark, but they have not locked out pole. McLaren’s pace is real enough to keep qualifying open. The strongest evidence is that Ferrari topped both sessions, and FP2 was the more meaningful one for qualifying pace. Charles Leclerc’s 1m18.877s led Lewis Hamilton by just 0.037s, which suggests Ferrari’s car is working across compounds and that both drivers are comfortable near the limit despite the wind and low grip. That is a stronger sign than a single headline lap. But the gap to McLaren may be misleading. Lando Norris briefly went fastest on a 1m19.228s before Ferrari improved, and both Norris and Oscar Piastri failed to complete especially clean soft-tyre runs. Traffic and Norris’s final-corner mistake clearly cost time, while Piastri also left lap time on the table. McLaren also arrived with a major upgrade package that the team believes should help at a high-downforce circuit like Hungary. So Ferrari did not exactly “master” a chaotic session; it simply handled the disorder better than most. The red flags, Colapinto’s crash, Antonelli’s mistakes, and widespread balance complaints mean many teams never got a clean reference lap. Mercedes and Red Bull remain close enough to complicate the front as well. If qualifying comes down to one clean final run, Ferrari deserve to be favorites. But if McLaren finally strings together a tidy soft-tyre lap, especially with Norris, pole could still swing away from Maranello.

3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 24

Charles Leclerc vaulted past Lando Norris with a 1:18.877 lap to lead the session, with Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton slotting second just 0.037 seconds back.
Kimi Antonelli failed to join that late shuffle after clipping the Turn 6 kerb on soft tyres, running wide at the end of the lap and aborting his effort.
11th place left Antonelli outside the top 10, while Leclerc's completed hot lap reshaped the order at the front in the closing stages.
That benchmark ultimately stood as the fastest time of Hungarian GP FP2, a session later disrupted by Franco Colapinto's crash and red flag.