McLaren appear to be in a league of their own at the 2025 Hungarian GP as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri lead the way in FP2, with the Brit topping the times with a massive 0.399 gap to Charles Leclerc in third, whilst Max Verstappen was left nowhere.
The two championship protagonists look to be in an exclusive fight for pole position on Saturday and the Grand Prix victory on Sunday, with the MCL39 performing well across different fuel loads and tyre compounds at the Hungaroring.
Norris appeared to have an edge across different fuel loads and tyre compounds over his Australian colleague as the Brit is looking good at the circuit where he had to controversially give up victory last time out.
This time he seems keen to make amends and if he can translate this blistering speed into the competitive sessions then he will be in an excellent position to do so.
The pair are split by 16 points with Piastri leading the standings so Norris will be keen to snag a crucial win to head into the summer break in his bid to win his maiden championship.
Ferrari appear to be McLaren’s closest competition, but a half-second gap suggests catching up will be a challenge for the Scuderia. Lewis Hamilton showed early promise on a second set of soft tyres, setting a purple first sector.
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However, he lost time in the middle part of the lap, before recovering with a personal best in Sector 3. A competitive lap could still be in the cards if he strings the sectors together cleanly, whilst Leclerc slotted into best of the rest in third.
Elsewhere, Nico Hulkenberg ran wide during the opening session of his weekend for Sauber as he and Fernando Alonso finally got into the mix in FP1, the latter running for Aston Martin who seemed quick.
Showing promising pace, Lance Stroll finished third and Alonso fifth. However, questions remain over whether their performance was genuine or boosted by a higher engine mode on their Mercedes power units.
Max Verstappen and Red Bull nowhere as McLaren dominate FP2
Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda both struggled for pace, managing only eighth and ninth respectively, with Tsunoda voicing frustration over the Red Bull RB21’s balance around the Hungaroring.
And he wasn’t alone either as his four-time world champion teammate told his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, the same thing, echoing his comments by saying, “It’s like driving on ice.”
Both drivers reported issues with front and rear grip, with the car falling well outside the competitive window as the Dutchman went one step further and slammed his car as “undriveable”.
While it’s not unusual for Red Bull to face setup challenges on a Friday, they now face a steep task to turn things around overnight if they hope to get Verstappen back in the fight on what is typically a driver-dependent circuit.
The Dutchman could only manage 14th on the timesheets, finishing behind his teammate Tsunoda, who at least made it into the Top 10 with ninth.
Verstappen took pole here in 2019 and 2023, whilst he managed to claim victory in 2022 and 2023. Can he win again? It’s going to require a huge effort from Laurent Mekies and Pierre Wache overnight.
