FP3: Piastri beats Norris and Leclerc in final practice at the Hungaroring

Championship leader Oscar Piastri bounced back in final practice to lead the way in the third practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix, with Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc having taken second and third. F1Technical’s senior writer Balazs Szabo reports from the Hungaroring.

McLaren continued to set the pace in the third and final practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix. However, it was Oscar Piastri this time around to set the benchmark with a time of 1m14.916s.

His team-mate Lando Norris finished only 32 thousands behind, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc ending up third for the third time this weekend.

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton finished the session in fourth, with Kimi Antonelli and Fernando Alonso, who bounced back from a back injury earlier in the weekend, claiming the rest of the top-six positions.

Confirming Aston Martin's encouraging pace, Lance Stroll was seventh, followed by George Russell and the Sauber pair of Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg.

Reogning champion Max Verstappen took P12, completing another disappointing hour of practice.

Haas’ Ollie Bearman ended up P13, leading Franco Colapinto, Liam Lawson and Carlos Sainz.

Williams driver Alex Albon, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda, and Isack Hadjar brought up the rear.