McLaren Stamps Its Authority On Budapest On Friday

McLaren did not waste any time in stamping its authority on the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, in that order, topped the time sheet in FP1 and FP2, the only drivers to get under the 1’16” barrier.

The best times in the second hour were 1’15”624 and 1’15”915.

Ferrari would seem to be the second force, with Leclerc third in 1’16”023 and Hamilton sixth in 1’16”329. Splitting the Prancing Horse pair in FP2 were the Aston Martins of Lance Stroll, fourth in 1’16”119 and Fernando Alonso, fifth in 1’16”233. In FP1, Felipe Drugovich stood in for the Spaniard.

Over half the drivers used a set of Hards: eight did so in FP1 and three in FP2. Those yet to run the C3 are Piastri, Norris, Leclerc, Hamilton, Verstappen, Antonelli, Russell, Colapinto and Gasly, a clear indication of their desire to keep one set of Hards for the race. Alonso also didn’t use the hardest compound in FP2, but his substitute, Drugovich, did so in the first session, so the Spaniard only has one set of this compound for the rest of the weekend.

Lando Norris – Fastest in FP1 and FP2

“It’s been a promising day on track, the car felt good from the first couple of laps. The competition is tight, but I’ve got a good feel for what we need from the car, so we’ll work on that overnight and make sure we’re in the best possible position going into Qualifying tomorrow.”

Oscar Piastri – Second Fastest in FP1 and FP2

“It’s been a good Friday. Our competitiveness has looked strong. We’ve got some things to try and tidy up overnight, but all in all, it’s been a solid first day. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do tomorrow.”

Simone Berra – Pirelli Chief Engineer

“Getting back to a standard format weekend gives us much more time to gather data on how the tyres are behaving, which is particularly important on a track noted for quite significant thermal degradation. In fact, temperatures were a very relevant factor today, especially when compared to those on Friday last year: at times they were 15° C lower in FP1 and 10 °C in FP2. Cooler temperatures mean a faster track which explains much of the improvement in lap times from one year to the next – around 2”7 in the first session and 2”1 in the second. The other factor is of course the progress the cars have made in terms of performance.

We didn’t see any graining and thermal degradation was pretty much in line with our expectations. All three compounds were used in several long runs and that meant we saw that even the Soft is not at all out of the running for a dry race. From what we saw today, the two-stop definitely seems the most effective option, using the Medium and the Hard. These two compounds were pretty close in performance terms so they should both have a role to play.”

FORMULA 2 

Roman Stanek (Invicta Racing) will start the feature race from pole position on Sunday having set the fastest time in qualifying this afternoon in 1’28”779, the first time the Czech has secured the number one grid slot. Alongside him will be team-mate and Drivers’ championship leader, Italy’s Leonardo Fornaroli (1’28”925). Third is the American Jak Crawford (DAMS Lucas Oil, 1’28”952) while Spain’s Josep Maria Martì (Campos Racing), tenth today in 1’29”301 will start tomorrow’s Sprint from pole position.

The Budapest weekend sees a return to having two consecutive compounds, after last year’s experiment to jump one. This means the Medium and Soft tyres are called into service for the final round before the summer break. This choice should lead to a greater variety of strategies in the Feature Race. Last year, the grid was split exactly in half between the compounds on offer, the Soft and Hard.

FORMULA 3 

Brazil’s Rafael Camara (Trident) secured pole position in qualifying this afternoon with a best lap time of 1’32”510. This is the fifth pole of the season for the championship leader. He was just eight thousandths of a second quicker than Spain’s Mari Boya (Campos Racing) who will be alongside him on the front row for the Feature Race. Finland’s Tuukka Taponen (ART Grand Prix), with a time of1’32”652 while on pole in tomorrow’s Sprint will be Thailand’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak (Campos Racing), twelfth today in 1’32”894.

The Hungarian weekend sees a softer compound than last year’s being used, with the P Zero Yellow medium chosen for the final round prior to the summer break. At the Hungaroring, drivers will have to do a good job of managing the tyres, to ensure they last to the end of the race without losing all their performance in the closing laps.