Lando Norris topped the timesheets in FP3 at the 2021 F1 Hungarian GP, view the full session report here.
Friday’s Free Practice sessions saw Ferrari dominate the Hungaroring circuit as Charles Leclerc led FP1 and Lewis Hamilton topped FP2. Notably, the day also included two red flag interruptions, with Lance Stroll stopping during FP1 and Franco Colapinto crashing into the barrier in the second session.
Green light for FP3 at the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP
The final practice session of the weekend began slowly, with no cars lining up at the pit lane exit. Colapinto was soon the first driver to head out onto the Hungaroring circuit, eager to make up for the running he had missed in FP1 and FP2. The Argentine driver initially set a 1:22.464 before improving to a 1:21.747.
Stroll joined the FP3 session on medium tyres as he looked to collect crucial data for Aston Martin after also missing much of Friday’s running. Valtteri Bottas and Nico Hülkenberg followed, with Hülkenberg quickly putting a 1:20.643 on the timesheets.
The remainder of the field slowly began to leave their garages 17 minutes into the session. Completing his first fast lap, Oscar Piastri managed to go quicker than the drivers who came out early, taking P1 with a 1:19.918. However, his McLaren teammate Lando Norris responded quickly, jumping to the top after going purple in the first two sectors.
Pérez brings out a red flag
With 37 minutes left, Sergio Pérez triggered a brief red flag after stopping on track at Turn 2 as his rear brakes caught fire. As the marshals cleared Perez’s Cadillac, replays showed the two Aston Martins nearly coming together.
Race Control soon announced that the FP3 session would resume at 12:56 local time. Norris held the lead during the interruptions, sitting 0.296s ahead of Isack Hadjar, followed by Piastri, Leclerc, and Liam Lawson. However, with a slow start, 10 drivers, including both Mercedes cars, were yet to hit the track and set a time.
30 minutes remain
George Russell and Kimi Antonelli joined the session at the halfway point. While Russell jumped up to P2, 0.224s back on Norris, Antonelli briefly took P6 before his lap was deleted due to track limits.
As times continued to improve, Lewis Hamilton briefly demoted Norris from the lead. However, Leclerc proved to be the quicker Ferrari driver as he completed a 1:18.668. Despite the previous track limit issue, championship leader Antonelli soon split the Ferrari drivers to take P2.
Lindblad remained the only driver yet to come out with just under 20 minutes left.
Norris improves
Running on new soft tyres, Antonelli and Piastri battled for the fastest lap, with Antonelli going purple in sector one and Piastri going purple in sector two. As they crossed the line, Antonelli moved up to the top as Piastri took P2. However, Antonelli’s lead didn’t last long, as Norris stormed to the top with a 1:18.206.
With 10 minutes left and fresh soft tyres on, Hamilton found improvement, going 0.150s quicker than Norris. Norris fought back, retaking the top by 0.117s with a 1:17.939. Meanwhile, further back, Lindblad finally found his way out on track with 4 minutes to go.
At the front, Norris ultimately crossed the FP3 chequered flag in P1, finishing ahead of Hamilton and Antonelli.
