Norris sets the pace in tight Hungarian GP FP1

Under warm and cloudy skies in Budapest, the McLaren duo were a class above the rest of the field, with third-placed Charles Leclerc the only other driver to finish within half a second of the Papaya pair.

Norris was quick early on as teams focused on medium and hard compound runs, before shattering the timesheets with a 1:16.052 on soft tyres.

Piastri showed strong pace in the first sector, going purple, but couldn’t match Norris in the final two sectors and ultimately finished narrowly behind.

The Aussie also had a slight off late in the session while pushing the limits, putting two wheels in the gravel before rejoining the track.

Isack Hadjar impressed for Racing Bulls, finishing fourth behind Leclerc and just 0.629s adrift of Norris’s benchmark. The Frenchman also completed the most laps in the session with 31.

Lewis Hamilton had an eventful session for Ferrari, complaining of handling issues and running wide at Turn 6 in the closing minutes. Despite the setbacks, he still set the sixth-fastest time, just ahead of the impressive Oliver Bearman for Haas.

The Mercedes duo of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell were seventh and eighth, with the team reverting to a previous specification of their rear wing after a newer version introduced in Canada failed to deliver consistent results. Despite Russell’s win in Montreal, neither Mercedes driver has finished higher than fifth in the races since.

Max Verstappen was only ninth for Red Bull, one place ahead of Lance Stroll, who rounded out the top ten for Aston Martin.

Stroll’s teammate for the session, Felipe Drugovich, was called in at the last minute after Fernando Alonso withdrew with a back injury. The Brazilian reserve driver finished 16th.

Drugovich wasn’t the only stand-in taking part — Paul Aron substituted for Nico Hülkenberg at Sauber. It was a difficult session for both Aron and the Swiss outfit, with the Estonian pulling off at Turn 13 midway through the session with a power issue.

Gabriel Bortoleto, in the other Sauber, also failed to finish the session after returning to the pits with an unspecified problem. Team principal Jonathan Wheatley later confirmed the two cars had separate issues.

Power unit trouble also struck Pierre Gasly early on, with the Frenchman reporting no power on his out lap. He spent over 30 minutes in the garage as Alpine addressed the problem.

Several drivers struggled with braking into Turn 1 throughout the session, including Sainz, Hamilton and Drugovich, all of whom ran wide and flat-spotted their tyres.

Action continues at the Hungaroring with Free Practice 2 starting at 5pm local time (1am AEST).