BUDAPEST: Lando Norris completed a Hunga­rian Grand Prix practice double on Friday as runaway leaders McLaren dominated both sessions while leaving something in reserve and almost colliding at the end.

Norris was top of the timesheets in both sessions at the Hungaroring outside Budapest, with Formula One leader Oscar Piastri second and Ferrari’s Char­les Leclerc emerging as McLaren’s closest rival.

The Briton was 0.019 of a second faster than team-mate Piastri, who has a 16-point lead, in first practice and 0.291 quicker in the afternoon when he set a best lap of one minute 15.624 seconds.

At the end of the session, with the chequered flag already waved, Norris locked up coming out of the pits for a practice start as Piastri, winner in Belgium last weekend, went around the outside at turn one.

Norris was on pole at the circuit last year in a race won by Piastri, his first victory in F1.

Leclerc was third fastest in both sessions, with Racing Bulls’ rookie Isack Hadjar fourth in the opening one but Aston Martin coming on strong in the second with Lance Stroll fourth and Fernando Alonso fifth.

Published in Dawn, Aug 2nd, 2025