2026 Hungarian GP FP3: Norris pips Hamilton in ultra-close session

Lando Norris threw McLaren firmly into the fight for pole position by setting the fastest time in the final practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix, edging out Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes championship leader Kimi Antonelli in an intensely competitive hour that saw the top teams separated by little more than a tenth of a second.

Norris produced a best lap of 1m17.939s during the closing stages of FP3, finishing 0.117s clear of Hamilton, while Antonelli ended the session just 0.129s adrift in third. With McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes all showing genuine one-lap pace.

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Saturday’s final practice began at 12:30 local time under the typically hot Budapest sunshine, with several teams still completing the final stages of their race weekend preparations. Among the first drivers onto the circuit was Franco Colapinto, the Alpine driver eager to recover valuable mileage after his FP2 crash at the final corner left his mechanics with extensive overnight repair work.

2026 Hungarian Grand Prix FP3 Results

2026 Hungarian Grand Prix FP3, 25 July 2026

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	1	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:17.939	20
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+0.117s	22
3	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+0.129s	16
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+0.352s	24
5	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+0.499s	22
6	63	George Russell	Mercedes	+0.602s	18
7	3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+0.717s	14
8	6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull Racing	+1.004s	17
9	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+1.149s	23
10	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	+1.221s	24
11	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	+1.399s	22
12	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+1.784s	20
13	41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	+1.956s	6
14	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+2.116s	30
15	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	+2.356s	18
16	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	+2.373s	14
17	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+2.454s	17
18	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+2.994s	20
19	77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	+3.360s	15
20	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+3.467s	17
21	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	+3.574s	13
22	11	Sergio Perez	Cadillac		1

Lance Stroll was also back in action after a frustrating Friday. Having suffered a suspension failure in FP1 before missing the entirety of second practice, the Aston Martin driver immediately set about gathering data on the team’s heavily upgraded AMR26 alongside Fernando Alonso.

Not everyone was able to get underway, however. Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad remained stranded in the garage as the session began while his team worked through an apparent power unit issue. The squad had already broken the overnight paddock curfew to repair a similar problem on Liam Lawson’s car, leaving Lindblad’s participation hanging in the balance.

As more drivers filtered onto the circuit, Norris established the early benchmark with a 1m19.062s on the soft tyres around one-third of the way through the session. The McLaren driver held an advantage of a couple of tenths over Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, while several of the leading contenders, including Antonelli, George Russell and Max Verstappen, had yet to begin representative running.

The session was then interrupted when Sergio Perez encountered trouble moments after leaving the Cadillac garage. Exiting the pit lane, the Mexican slowed dramatically before coming to a halt approaching Turn 2, prompting an immediate red flag.

“I lost the engine; I had a massive brake,” Perez reported over team radio. “It looks like the brakes are on fire at the back.”

With Perez’s stricken Cadillac recovered and the circuit cleared, running resumed at 12:56 local time, leaving just over 30 minutes for teams to complete their final qualifying simulations.

Mercedes and Red Bull finally joined the action after the interruption. Russell’s opening representative lap placed him second behind Norris, Verstappen initially slotted into fifth behind team-mate Hadjar and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, while Antonelli briefly climbed to sixth before his lap time was deleted for exceeding track limits.

The order quickly evolved as the circuit continued to improve. Hamilton moved Ferrari to the top with a 1m19.053s before Leclerc immediately found more time to lower the benchmark to 1m18.668s. Antonelli then inserted himself between the two Ferraris before reporting that his Mercedes floor required inspection after striking the kerb heavily at Turn 4.

The final quarter of the session developed into an increasingly intense battle between Formula 1’s leading teams. With 15 minutes remaining, Antonelli underlined Mercedes’ growing confidence by producing a 1m18.254s to take over at the top of the timesheets.

McLaren responded almost immediately as Norris edged back ahead with a 1m18.206s in the upgraded MCL40, before Hamilton appeared to swing the momentum back towards Ferrari by improving further to a 1m18.056s.

But Norris still had one final lap in reserve.

Having previously lost time with a slide through the final corner, the Briton put together a clean final sector on his next attempt to produce an impressive 1m17.939s, becoming the first driver to dip beneath the 1m18s barrier during the session and securing top spot heading into qualifying.

Antonelli completed the top three behind Hamilton, while Leclerc finished fourth and Oscar Piastri ensured both McLarens ended the session inside the top five.

Russell placed sixth, around six-tenths away from Norris’s benchmark, with Verstappen and Hadjar giving Red Bull seventh and eighth positions respectively. Hadjar’s session ended on a frustrated note after describing his RB22 as “undriveable” over team radio.

Lawson delivered another encouraging performance to finish ninth for Racing Bulls, ahead of Audi duo Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto. Lindblad eventually made it onto the circuit during the closing stages after his early mechanical delays, splitting Alpine team-mates Pierre Gasly and Colapinto.

Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman followed for Haas, while Aston Martin’s upgraded package continued to gather mileage through Alonso and Stroll, who narrowly avoided contact with one another at one stage of the session.

Valtteri Bottas, Williams pair Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon completed the order, with Perez classified last after his early mechanical failure left him watching the remainder of final practice from the Cadillac garage.