McLaren take charge in Hungary: “We’re in a good place”

Oscar Piastri believes McLaren is “in a good place” after both drivers dominated the timesheets during the first day of action at the Hungarian Grand Prix, though the Australian still needs to close the margin to his flying teammate as Qualifying rapidly approaches.

Piastri found his footing early at the Hungaroring, topping the initial timesheets during Free Practice 1 with his first flying lap, tracking just one millisecond quicker than Max Verstappen.

Though he slipped down the order briefly, the Australian rebounded to P1 before teammate Lando Norris laid down a lap six tenths quicker, kicking off what’s shaping up to be a tight McLaren tussle.

Switching to the soft compound tyre, Piastri clocked a 1:16.194s to go P2, before trimming the gap to Norris to within 19 milliseconds on his next lap.

The final minutes saw both McLarens back on mediums, where Piastri kept the pressure on — even after a brief gravel moment at the rear of the circuit. 

Despite the misstep, he held onto P2, firmly staking his place in what was shaping up to be a tight intra-team battle in Budapest.

When asked if he was pleased with how the day unfolded, the Australian said: “I think, generally, yes.”

“We’ve had to change a few things and try and make the car a bit better, but the performance has been very good, so, all in all, pretty happy.

“Some things to tidy up; it wasn’t the smoothest of FP2s but I think the underlying pace is good, so, excited for the rest of the weekend.”

Piastri didn’t hold back in FP2, pushing hard from the outset as he dipped a wheel in the dirt on his opening flyer — one of several scrappy moments that marked a messy but committed session for the Australian.

Despite the errors, he showed strong underlying pace, bouncing back from six-tenths down with a clean lap, sending him quickest before he engaged in a session-long scrap with the #4 for the top spot.

The #81 briefly led the way on softs with a 1:15.915s, but Norris hit back with a three-tenth buffer, reasserting his place at the top.

“I think just the grip level was very high today, so the cars been quick all day, just in FP1, it behaved a bit unexpectedly, so we changed a few things and it made it a lot better for FP2,” Piastri said.

“But yeah, now just fine-tuning the small things.

“Yeah, I think the grip level was a lot higher than we expected, especially compared to last year, so, just those things.”

A brief off through the grass in Sector 2 stalled Piastri’s charge to close the three-tenth gap to Norris, prompting a return to the pits before switching focus to long-run pace.

Back out on medium tyres, he settled into race simulations, logging strong lap times despite running on 14-lap-old rubber — only trailing Norris, who had fresher tyres, and Lewis Hamilton.

The McLaren duo were close on the timesheets and even closer on track, with Norris forced to slam on the brakes after exiting the pitlane, narrowly avoiding a collision with his teammate as he locked up into Turn 1 in the dying minutes of the session.

Putting the close moment behind him, the Australian rounded out his day with a practice start from the grid, ending FP2 second on the timesheets once again as Norris cemented his place at the top on Friday in Budapest.

“I mean, I think that this is a track that should suit us quite well, and it has done previously,” the #81 said.

“But, you know, Ferrari looked quick in FP1, I’ve not seen the long runs in FP2, but yeah, I think we’re in a good place.”

Needing to close the margin to his teammate ahead of tonight’s ratifying Qualifying session, Piastri has just one more hour of practice remaining before the shootout for pole position takes place.

Free Practice 3 will kick off at 20:30 AEST tonight, followed by a tense hour of Qualifying at 00:00 AEST.

Image: McLaren

2025 Hungarian Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday, August 01:

Free Practice 1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, August 02:

Free Practice 2: 01:00 – 02:00

Free Practice 3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, August 03: 

Qualifying: 00:00 – 01:00

Race: 23:00

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