Lando Norris topped the F1 FP1 timings at the 2025 Hungarian GP with a 1:16.052 for McLaren. Teammate Oscar Piastri followed in second with a 1:16.071, with the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in third with a 1:16.269.
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Alpine reserve driver Paul Aron completed the session in the Stake of Nico Hulkenberg, a change that was announced pre-Silverstone.
Felipe Drugovich stepped in for Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin as the Spanish driver reportedly battles “a muscular injury in his back.”
A decision will be made if Alonso participates “in FP2 and the remainder of the weekend in due course.”
Green Light
As the green light was shown, the majority of the field were eager to begin their installation laps.
Drugovich set an early time of 1:21.738, with the Brazilian driver possibly preparing for his first Formula 1 race.
Bringing further updates to the car, Aston Martin are one of the only teams to still be focusing on the development of their 2025 machinery.
Russell went quickest on the Medium tyres with a 1:19.111 for Mercedes. The team are returning to their old rear suspension weekend, hoping it can improve their performance after a difficult run of results.
He was followed by the Williams drivers on Hard tyres, with a mix of the two being used across the field.
Notably, early indications were showing that Lando Norris was just +0.122s quicker than his teammate Oscar Piastri.
Elsewhere, Pierre Gasly reported that he had “no power.” His engineers instructed him to immediately “box” so that they could fix the issue.
McLaren Vs Ferrari
With 50 minutes remaining, Norris replaced Russell at the top with a 1:17.631 for McLaren. Piastri slotted in +0.681s behind him.
The Ferrari of Charles Leclerc split the two McLaren drivers, just four-tenths adrift in these early stages, with the track improving rapidly.
However, the Australian was quickly able to reclaim second position, +0.248s behind his teammate.
Lewis Hamilton, the Hungaroring’s most successful driver, was eager to discover “where is that one second?” to Norris.
It was relayed that “Turn 5, 8 and 9” were his main losses.
Setting a personal best, Max Verstappen slotted into fifth yet was still six-tenths adrift to the British driver out-front.
On a new set of Medium tyres, Leclerc went quickest with a 1:17.420, two-tenths quicker than Norris’ best time.
However, the Brit reclaimed the top-spot, setting a 1:16.837 as he aims to close the gap to Piastri in the Championship fight.
Virtual Safety Car
With 33 minutes remaining, the yellow flag was waved as the Stake of Aron came to a stop at Turn 13.
The rookie relayed that a “systems critical alarm” message was present on his dashboard, with his engineers telling him to “stop the car.”
Therefore, a virtual safety car was briefly in place as his car was cleared.
30 Minutes Remaining
It was Lando Norris who topped the timings at the halfway point with a 1:16.837 for McLaren.
Leclerc was half a second behind him in second, with his former teammate Carlos Sainz +0.957s adrift in third for Williams.
The Soft tyre runs were now beginning, with Verstappen, Franco Colapinto and both Ferrari drivers leading this.
Out of these first-runners, Leclerc went quickest once again with a 1:16.791.
In addition, Alex Albon slotted in +0.193 behind the Ferrari, with the team having a promising start to the weekend.
With three purple sectors, Norris impressed once again with a time of 1:16.052 on his first Soft tyre run, seven-tenths faster than the Monegasque.
His teammate Piastri went +0.142s slower than his teammate on his first Soft tyre run, despite setting a purple first sector.
15 Minutes Remaining
There were major lockups at Turn 1 for the session leader, Drugovich and Hamilton in the closing stages of the session.
However, Norris still topped the field, followed by teammate Piastri and the Ferrari of Leclerc.
Notably, it was Verstappen who seemed to be on the back-foot, with the Red Bull eight-tenths down. Isack Hadjar was three-tenths quicker than the Dutch driver for Racing Bulls.
With the Soft tyre runs complete, it was unlikely these times were going to be topped at this stage in the session.
Another disaster for Stake as Gabriel Bortoleto also seemed to have a problem, with the Brazilian stood in the garage whilst mechanics worked on his car.
Furthermore, it appeared to be a more promising session for Kimi Antonelli, with the Mercedes driver ahead of his teammate Russell who claimed he “can’t even turn the car.”
Lando Norris topped the F1 FP1 timings at the 2025 Hungarian GP with a 1:16.052 for McLaren. Teammate Oscar Piastri followed in second with a 1:16.071, with the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in third with a 1:16.269.
Featured Image Credit: McLaren Racing
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