Norris made all the difference through the middle sector of the Hungaroring circuit to secure the top spot on the timing boards with a 1:17.939. Lewis Hamilton and Andrea Kimi Antonelli came next.

While Friday saw a dominant Ferrari display, the start of Saturday brought a much tighter grid, with McLaren emerging as a surprise threat. Mercedes also proved it had the pace to join the fight, with Antonelli in particular showing strong speed ahead of qualifying.

Ferrari refused to let its rivals build too much of a cushion, as Hamilton commanded the first and third sectors while Norris made the crucial difference in the middle sector. On several occasions during the final runs, they traded top spot by mere hundredths of a second.

In the end, Norris came out on top, with Hamilton and Antonelli trailing by just 0.1s. Charles Leclerc had a messier end to the session and finished fourth, 0.3s off the leader. Oscar Piastri, George Russell, Max Verstappen, Isack Hadjar, Liam Lawson, and Nico Hülkenberg completed the top 10.

Gabriel Bortoleto once again displayed solid qualifying pace, fighting on the fringes of the top 10 before ending up 11th, just 0.1s behind his Audi teammate.

GRANDE PRÊMIO is covering all the track action from the Hungarian GP, the 11th round of the 2026 season.

How FP3 Unfolded at the Hungaroring

Saturday afternoon in Budapest welcomed the F1 field with slightly warmer temperatures than Friday—24 °C ambient, a track surface at 49 °C, and low humidity at 29%. However, apart from Franco Colapinto, who ran nearly 30 minutes on opening day, drivers opted to remain in the garages working with their engineers during the first ten minutes.

The Argentine’s time of 1:21.747, set on soft tires, served as the initial benchmark. Next up was Lance Stroll—who also suffered suspension failure issues on Friday—heading out on medium tires to post a high lap time. Valtteri Bottas, on the other hand, went out on softs and jumped into second place, 2.2s off the Alpine driver’s pace.

When Hülkenberg crossed the line in 1:20.643, the session began to pick up pace. Soon after, McLaren sent Piastri out onto the track. Bit by bit, track activity intensified as Leclerc and Hamilton, who dominated Friday practice, headed out for their first flying laps.

At the 15-minute mark, broadcast cameras caught the Racing Bulls garage with mechanics working feverishly on Arvid Lindblad’s stripped-down car. Official word confirmed a power unit change, severely compromising the Briton’s participation in the session.

On track, Piastri was 0.7s quicker than Hülkenberg across all sectors to set a 1:19.918. Leclerc slotted in 0.237s behind, while Hamilton was 0.5s off the #81 McLaren.

Norris then mounted a charge to beat his teammate, delivering a second sector that was a full 0.6s faster. Despite wrestling with oversteer through the final turn onto the main straight, he completed the lap in 1:19.062, putting 0.8s on Piastri.

Hadjar was also on a push lap and managed to put his Red Bull into second before the red flag brought the session to a halt with 40 minutes remaining. For the second time this season, Sergio Pérez was forced to stop his Cadillac as heavy smoke billowed from the rear. Over the radio, he reported a brake failure.

With no time to lose after the restart, Mercedes put Antonelli and Russell near the front of the pit lane queue. However, only Russell logged a fast lap, 0.2s off Norris, while Antonelli made a mistake and aborted his run. Piastri then tried to dethrone his McLaren teammate from the top of the sheets, falling short by 0.174s.

Hamilton succeeded thanks to purple sectors in 1 and 3, setting a 1:19.053—just 0.009s ahead of Norris. Verstappen briefly looked set to beat the time after going 0.4s faster in Sector 2, but lost significant time in the final sector to end up fifth, 0.228s adrift.

Hadjar, by contrast, delivered a clean lap to sit just 0.032s off Hamilton, placing Red Bull in an encouraging third. Finally, Leclerc recorded a purple Sector 2 to seal a Ferrari 1-2, clearing Lewis by 0.3s with a 1:18.668.

Ferrari’s hopes of repeating Friday’s dominance came under fire when championship leader Antonelli put together a strong lap. He posted a 1:18.812 to leap into second, 0.144s behind Leclerc, who held the edge in Sector 2 compared to the #12 Mercedes.

With 20 minutes remaining, Bortoleto sat in 11th, right behind Hülkenberg, though both had set their times on medium tires. Lawson sat directly ahead of the Audi duo, while Lindblad remained rooted to the garage.

Five minutes later, Mercedes finally knocked Ferrari off top spot: setting a purple Sector 1, Antonelli eclipsed Leclerc’s benchmark by 0.4s with a 1:18.254. Piastri crossed the line right behind to sit 0.2s off the pace.

Norris accepted the challenge posed by Antonelli, and despite a slight snap of oversteer on entry to the pit straight, went 0.048s faster to take the lead. In the closing minutes, qualifying simulations intensified as Hamilton picked up purple sectors 1 and 3 to reclaim the top spot with a 1:18.056. However, the session ultimately belonged to McLaren, with Norris making all the difference in the second sector to finish practice on top.

F1 2026: Hungarian GP FP3 Results at the Hungaroring

F1 Hungarian GP: when to watch in US ET, London (UK), New Delhi (India), Shanghai (China) and Sydney (Australia)

US Eastern Time (ET)

• Race: 09:00 AM

London Time (BST)

• Race: 02:00 PM

New Delhi Time (IST)

• Race: 06:30 PM

Shanghai Time (CST)

• Race: 09:00 PM

Sydney Time (AEST)

• Race: 11:00 PM