What we learned in Friday practice for the F1 Hungarian GP

After topping both of Formula 1's practice sessions on Friday, Lando Norris bolted out of the gate to stamp his early authority on the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend. It's only Friday, but the Briton will be cautiously optimistic as he dissects the data from his running at the Hungaroring - both times with an advantage over his championship-leading team-mate Oscar Piastri.

The McLarens ran riot in practice. In both sessions, Charles Leclerc posed as the fastest runner not dressed in papaya, but he was a fair way off Norris' pace; in FP1, the Monegasque's deficit fell to 0.217s. In FP2, this was 0.399s. On a rear-limited circuit like the Hungaroring, McLaren was always likely to have a strong advantage; the MCL39 has demonstrated throughout the season that it shines in traction zones, and the stability of the car has also ensured that both drivers have a sensible platform to work with.

In qualifying trim, Norris seemed to cope with the high-wire act a little bit more adeptly than Piastri. The key differences to the two situations were into Turn 2 and in the second half of the lap; Piastri took more margin in the second corner, but bolted up the hill and carried the momentum through Turn 4. Higher-speed corners are the Australian's forte, and he was a little bit more committed through the left-hander and transition to Turn 5.

But Norris was stronger in the chicane and tighter corners at the top of the circuit, and also found more time in the final sector. When the going is slow, Norris seems to be a bit better at keeping up the minimum speeds and feeding the throttle in on the exit. When things speed up a bit, like towards the end of the sweepers, Piastri is that little bit more committed and pin-point accurate. In other words, if the car's in danger of washing out, Piastri will find the line and take the inertia into the corner to ensure the car makes it at flat chat.

"The car since the first lap felt pretty good," Norris reckoned after the sessions. "All my laps have been decent. I think this session [FP2] was a little bit more messy, just in low fuel, high fuel, a few more mistakes, but all part of practice and trying to find the limits in different areas.

"[We have a] good understanding. I think I know what I want from the car, but it might be a bit harder trying to get it."

McLaren dominated Friday running at the Hungarian Grand Prix

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Leclerc also has a good feel in the arena of qualifying pace; he does so generally, but the updated rear suspension package on his Ferrari seems to have bestowed upon him a sense of stability as the team works away at dialling it in across a second race weekend.

In his own driving sensibilities, he likes the car to dance on the edge over a single lap - as long as he's rarely going to surpass that edge and fall into the chasm below. It's been difficult for him to get the Ferrari's tail wagging so far this year, so having a clear performance advantage over the rest of the 'big four' teams with a better-handling car will keep him somewhat pleased. 

By comparison, Red Bull and Mercedes looked at sea on single-lap pace - but, once more, it's only Friday. Still, seeing the two Aston Martins interloping among the top five will be of some concern - but per Fernando Alonso's comments after qualifying in Belgium, the AMR25 can show good pace early in the weekend, but rarely shows the same progression of its counterparts.

Of the bigger teams, Red Bull seems to be in the hottest water. Both Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda struggled with overall handling of their cars; understeer and oversteer appeared to rear their heads across a lap and left the team with a lot to digest overnight

Can anyone beat McLaren over the race?

It's going to be tough for anyone to break down the two orange cars on Sunday. Arguably, this is where the rear-limited nature of the Hungaroring begins to compound for the other teams; the higher demand placed upon the rear end of the car is more exacting on the tyres - and it'll be difficult, particularly amid the lower speeds at the Mogyorod venue, to keep the temperatures in check.

We know that this is a key trait behind McLaren's recent success, as its stronger tyre management tends to snowball into a clear advantage as the stint length increases. It wouldn't be a surprise to see Norris and Piastri, in whichever combination, streaking off into the distance in the early tours as the others opt for an early management phase.

Average FP2 medium long run times

*Haas did not complete a comparable stint on mediums, opting for softs and hards

The McLaren advantage doesn't look too decisive per the FP2 times, taking Norris' marginally quicker stint than Piastri's from the session, with less than a tenth between it and Ferrari over the stints. But one expects Ferrari to have a bit more of a disadvantage than that, unless its new rear suspension update has really kept the SF-25s in the game over a longer stint. Lewis Hamilton did a competitive stint on softs, on a par with Leclerc's run on the mediums, and thus it feels like the soft might be a strong race tyre for a less temperature-critical phase of the race.

The soft tyre may come into play on Sunday

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Of course, Sauber's position is a surprise; Nico Hulkenberg's clutch of times was likely done on lower fuel, or at a higher engine mode as he looked to get up to speed after missing FP1. His team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto did his stint on hard tyres, but altogether was not far away from the German aside from two slower laps towards the end of the stint.

Still, it'll be encouraging for the Swiss team to at least show that pace, given Paul Aron's second appearance for the team in FP1 was curtailed by an alarm on his steering wheel. The team stopped running in the opening session early to investigate the issue.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli showed up well for Mercedes, but it is very much expected that the Silver Arrows will start to fade over stints during the cut and thrust of a grand prix. Reverting to the old suspension might help the drivers with overall confidence in the car package, but the W16 has shown few signs of breaking out of its warm-weather hoodoo otherwise; the Hungary weekend has the air of one that will be punishing for the team.

Mercedes can help its chances by chasing a bit more qualifying pace, and then bank on track position to hold firm in the field - or hope that the suggestion of rain on Sunday duly comes to pass for the second weekend in a row. 

But of the bigger teams, Red Bull seems to be in the hottest water. Both Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda struggled with overall handling of their cars; understeer and oversteer appeared to rear their heads across a lap and left the team with a lot to digest overnight. If Sebastien Buemi is on call for a simulator shift tonight, he'll have to get his thinking cap on to unravel the cryptic crossword posed by the RB21 after Friday practice...

At least Tsunoda was closer to Verstappen; on single lap pace in FP2, he was quicker than the Dutchman, and their long runs were separated by less than two tenths on average per lap. Assuming the usual glide path of progress over the weekend, the Red Bulls should move ahead of both Williams cars in the order on pace; that said, Alex Albon was a man in a hurry in practice, and may well be a dark horse for a healthy hatful of points come Sunday.

This is, of course, unless rain occurs; earlier forecasts suggested showers over Budapest in the early phases of Sunday afternoon, although the chance of precipitation has fallen over the day. It's looking less likely that we'll get a wet race, but it's not impossible.

What we learned in Friday practice may be redundant should rain fall on Sunday...

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