Norris beats Piastri with mega lap, as Tsunoda outpaces a suffering Verstappen

Lando Norris led FP2 for the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix, ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc, with Max Verstappen failing to make the top 10.

How it happened

With the first quarter of the session in the books, Max Verstappen was asked about the balance limitations on his RB21. To which he responded with it being an overall front and rear issue that made it feel ‘like driving on ice’.

The order saw Lando Norris leading Oscar Piastri, with Charles Leclerc in P3, mimicking the morning session’s final result. Andrea Kimi Antonelli placed his Mercedes behind the Monegasque, with Isack Hadjar, Alexander Albon and George Russell trailing the Italian. Lewis Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda closed the top 10, with Max Verstappen outside the top 10.

As drivers took on the soft compound tyres to complete their qualifying simulations Norris made a mistake coming out of turn 2, foregoing his first attempt, as Piastri set the pace with a 1:15.915s.

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However, the Briton then outpaced his teammate by nearly three tenths. The complicated weekend for Verstappen did not get any easier with the Dutchman more than a second off the pace.

Behind the McLarens Leclerc slotted his Ferrari in P3, albeit momentarily as the Monegasque was pipped by Lance Stroll. Russell completed the top 5 with Tsunoda beating Verstappen's best effort and positioning himself in P8, with Hamilton ahead in P7.

Alonso having skipped FP1 put his AMR25 in P5, as Piastri was unable to improve. Leclerc then jumped to P3 again, bunching up the Aston Martin drivers in P4 and P5. Verstappen at this moment sat in P14.