Lewis Hamilton set the pace in Friday practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix, leading a Ferrari one-two ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc by 0.148 seconds.
McLaren’s Lando Norris trailed half a second back in third, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen settled for fourth, nearly seven-tenths off the leading Ferrari.
Aston Martin showed rare signs of life as Fernando Alonso finished 19th, but team principal Adrian Newey called the heavily revised car’s debut “promising” — despite Alonso losing a lap nearly 0.4 seconds faster due to track-limits violation at the final corner. The Spaniard ended 2.990 seconds off Hamilton’s benchmark.
Ferrari’s strong cornering performance suited the Hungaroring’s twisty layout, while Mercedes struggled. George Russell placed fifth, 0.933 seconds back, and championship leader Kimi Antonelli could only manage 13th after aborting both qualifying-simulation laps — the first due to Franco Colapinto’s Alpine crash, the second after a chicane error.
Antonelli also complained of persistent rear brake locking throughout the session, though his first-sector times matched Norris’s before both runs were cut short.
Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar took sixth, ahead of Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, with Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg and Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad rounding out the top 10.
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