Piastri makes statement in final practice in Hungary

Oscar Piastri sent a clear warning shot ahead of Qualifying at the Hungaroring, topping the final practice session with a blistering lap that saw him emerge ahead of Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc as the fastest driver of the weekend so far.

One final practice session was all that stood between the grid and the first competitive session of the weekend, however, the time constraint didn’t force anyone’s hand as the light went green, with the Hungaroring remaining predominantly vacant for the first 20 minutes of FP3. 

Aside from putting a single heat cycle into a set of hard compound tyres, the start of Piastri’s FP3 session was extremely quiet until his first flying lap boosted the Australian to the top of the timesheets with a time of 1:16.240s, impacted by a slow-moving Aston Martin at the final corner.

Piastri was the first driver to break into the 1m 15s, setting a time of 1:15.871s as FP3 reached the halfway mark to move two-tenths ahead of the pack. 

That lap remained the fastest of the session until the #81 shaved off almost an entire second, lighting up the timesheets with a blistering 1:14.916s.

Lando Norris’ response to the 24-year-old’s pace was no match, with the Brit settling into second fastest at a 32-millisecond deficit to Piastri as the minutes ticked down.

The Australian continued to lap on the soft compound, not improving but rather racking up crucial knowledge ahead of Qualifying — a session he heads into as the fastest man of the weekend. 

Liam Lawson was a part of the majority of drivers who made their first appearance after 20 minutes of patience, kicking off his FP3 campaign on the medium compound. 

Lapping as one of five drivers 1.2 seconds off the pace, Lawson rounded the 4.38km circuit 13 times on the C4 tyre before making the switch to the soft compound tyre during the final 15 minutes of the session.

During his first C5 stint, the Kiwi failed to improve on his time of 1:16.985s, prompting a return to the pitlane before he moved up the order, shaving six-tenths off the previous lap and slotting into 13th as he made his return.

With just five minutes remaining in the session, his time of 1:16.371s was his final improvement of the hour, with Lawson making a quick trip back through the pitlane to change to the medium compound tyre for his final practice start on the grid.

As for the rest of the field, the Red Bull drivers were the first front-runners to record a lap, however, much like yesterday’s performance, it wasn’t a standout result when Max Verstappen crossed the line with a soft tyre time of 1:16.547s.

Expectedly, the Dutchman slipped down the order once McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari had completed their first attempts, but it was only momentary when Verstappen put just 0.038s between himself and Piastri to reclaim P1.

The soft tyre continued to shuffle the top of the tables, with Charles Leclerc flying around the Hungaroring and setting two fastest sectors, even in the face of a venture into the gravel at Turn 12.

The dusty error allowed both McLaren drivers and the #16’s teammate to edge ahead of him on their soft tyre runs, with Lewis Hamilton soon splitting Piastri and Norris within the top three. 

With all drivers circulating the Hungaroring, traffic was once again a pressing issue for both rookies and experienced drivers, with Isack Hadjar caught up in the middle of the chaos as Lando Norris pushed his way by. 

The Racing Bulls driver was taught another lesson at the final corner, spinning into the run-off area to bring out double-waved yellow flags, however, he recovered, not impacting the drastic improvements that came during the final 15 minutes of the session. 

Piastri’s time in the 1m 14s was untouchable, with Norris, having taken a pause for a front wing adjustment, only managing to come within 0.032s of his teammate.

Behind the McLaren duo, the closest team sat four-tenths back with Leclerc and Hamilton holding position in P3 and P4, while Verstappen dropped outside the top ten — producing an angry radio message to go with subpar final run.

His Red Bull teammate echoed Verstappen’s negative sentiments, ending FP3 with a sarcastic “What a session!” remark as Tsunoda made his way to the grid for his final practice start.

The Austrian team will have just two hours to tweak the RB21 ahead of Qualifying, with the hour shootout to set the grid for the Hungarian Grand Prix kicking off at 00:00 AEST.

Image: Formula 1

Free Practice 3 Results:

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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