Norris tops red flag-interrupted FP2 in Hungary

Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz recorded the top three fastest times in FP2, promising a tight battle for tomorrow’s exciting qualifying session in Budapest.

As afternoon began to fall at the Hungaroring, the second practice session of the weekend was off to a busy start.

The sole hard tyre runners at the start of FP2, McLaren sent Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris out onto the Hungaroring with long-run simulations as their early focus. 

Piastri’s first time of the session was a 1:20.083s, defining his run plan for the opening stint of the hour. 

After dropping to the back of the pack and returning to the pit lane, the #81 emerged on the same compound to set a messy time of 1:19.614s, moving into P13.

Following the mid-session disruption, Piastri emerged on the soft compound tyre to set a 1:18.618s, eight-tenths behind his benchmark-holding teammate after riding the kerbs at Turn 4.

His heavy journey across the kerbs saw him returning to the pitlane, joined by his peers as a short-lived lull fell over the circuit. 

Just as happened in FP1, Piastri was held up due to an issue with his MCL38.

Unlike the earlier session, however, the issue was sustained during his running, with the front right area of Piastri’s floor requiring extra attention from his mechanics as they worked on repairs.

He was quickly back out on track, running the hard tyre for the final 10 minutes of the session.

With his fastest overall time in FP2 being a 1:18.618s, Piastri took Friday’s chequered flag in P13, completing his practice start alongside his competitors before retreating for the evening.

Outdoing his compatriot, Daniel Ricciardo had a positive end to his Friday running.

The RB driver’s tyre selection coincided with the greater majority, seeing him start the afternoon session on the medium tyre.

Rewarded with the third fastest time on his primary push lap, Ricciardo sat four-tenths back on Sergio Perez’s temporary benchmark.

He returned to the pit lane with a 1:19.008s lap to his name, rejoining the session still on the medium tyre.

Ricciardo abandoned his first push lap, a timely return to the RB garage just moments before the lengthy Ferrari-induced Red Flag.

Punching in one soft tyre push, Ricciardo timed his lap to clear of traffic interference.

The Australian set a 1:18.371s lap, prompting him into P8, just under six-tenths back on his former McLaren teammate’s benchmark.

Ricciardo started his race simulations on the medium tyre, however, his time set on the soft compound expectedly remained his best of the session.

Subsequently, Ricciardo finished FP2 with the eighth fastest time, over 1.2 seconds ahead of his teammate.

As for the rest of the grid, the exit of Turn 11 claimed many victims across the session with the likes of Carlos Sainz kicking up dust on the opening few laps.

After the first round of medium compound times were locked in, it was Perez’s 1:18.568s that held its own ahead of the Mercedes drivers.

As Verstappen dashed to secure the second fastest time, the session was brought to a pause due to an incident at Turn 4.

Charles Leclerc was the unlucky passenger at the high-speed corner after taking too much kerb, spinning across the road and into a heavy shunt with the wall.

The driver was ok, but the SF24 and metal barriers were not so much, resulting in a Red Flag to remove the car and start the lengthy repairs.

Restarting with less than 30 minutes on the clock, Ferrari continued FP2 with just one driver circulating the increasingly gusty Hungaroring, a hit to the team’s data-gathering plan for their upgraded floor body this weekend.

The soft tyre catapulted most cars around the 4.4km circuit for a single run, with Lando Norris’ time of 1:17.788s claiming the coveted top spot ahead of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz. 

The drivers returned to the pits to set up for their race simulations on the hard and medium tyres, seeing the timing sheets remain unchanged through to the chequered flag.

On their race runs, Perez held the fastest pace of a 1:23.3s on the medium compound, leading over Norris’ hard tyre pace by seven-tenths.

George Russell held the third quickest pace, a 1:24.0s, however, clearly struggled with tyre grip across the 14 corners. 

Making a last-minute decision to return to the C5 compound, Norris put on a set of three-lap-old tyres for one last push lap, his choice echoed by Lewis Hamilton.

There was no improvement on his benchmark time, with the two Brits instead opting to conduct their final Friday practice starts on the red-marked tyre before withdrawing for the evening.

Norris ended the session ahead of the Red Bull and Ferrari drivers, with the trio looking to remain within the top three come the chequered flag on qualifying tomorrow.

Ahead of qualifying in Hungary, however, the drivers will have one final hour of practice which kicks off at 8:30 PM.

Image: Zak Mauger

Free Practice 2 Results:

2024 Hungarian Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday July 19th:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday July 20th:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday July 21st:

Qualifying: 00:00 – 01:00

Race Start: 23:00

READ THE LATEST ISSUE OF AUTO ACTION DIGITAL HERE

Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here. For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine.