Lando Norris marked himself as the early pace-setter at the 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix by topping both Friday practice sessions, but the McLaren driver was quick to temper expectations, calling for caution ahead of Saturday's all-important qualifying showdown.
In FP1, Norris narrowly outpaced his teammate Oscar Piastri, and he further asserted his dominance in FP2, posting a blistering 1:15.624s on soft Pirelli rubber to finish 0.291s ahead of the championship leader.
But despite the strong showing, Norris admitted the sessions weren’t as clean as they should have been while also acknowledging areas needing improvement as McLaren aims to maintain its edge.
“I mean, the car since the first lap has felt pretty good,” Norris told the media after the second session. “All my laps have been decent.”
“I think the [FP2] session end was a little bit more messy, just on low fuel, high fuel, a few more mistakes. It’s all part of practice and trying to find the limits in different areas.”
“A good understanding… I think I know what I want from the car, but it might be a bit harder trying to get it.”
Cautious Optimism Ahead of Qualifying
Although Norris took pole at the Hungaroring last year, he’s not taking anything for granted this time around – despite feeling he has a better car underneath him.
“I mean, I have a better car than I had last year, so more chance – but some tough competition,” he said, pointing to his McLaren stablemate as a key rival.
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Oscar Piastri, who trails Norris by 0.291s on Friday’s final time sheet and leads him by 16 points in the Drivers' Championship, echoed his teammate’s sentiment that McLaren has work to do before qualifying.
“I think generally, yes,” Piastri said when asked if he was satisfied with his day. “We’ve had to change a few things and try and make the car a bit better, but the performance has been very good.”
“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. I’m excited for the rest of the weekend.”
Set-up Tweaks and Surprising Grip
Piastri added that one of the biggest surprises was the level of grip the circuit offered on Friday, which forced the team to adjust its approach.
“I think just the grip level was very high today. The car’s 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. Now we’re fine-tuning the normal things,” he explained.
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“I think just the grip level was a lot higher than we expected, especially compared to last year. It’s just those things.”
With McLaren leading the way and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen mired 81 points off Piastri in the standings, the Budapest weekend is shaping up as another crucial chapter in the evolving intra-team title fight.
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