BUDAPEST: Formula One championship leader Oscar Piastri beat team-mate and title rival Lando Norris by just three-hundredths of a second as McLaren dominated Saturday’s third and final practice session at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The two McLaren men clocked times of 1min 14.916 sec and 1:14.948 respectively to finish 0.399 clear of third-placed Charles Leclerc of Ferrari and are separated by just 0.032 seconds.
Piastri’s best lap was three-tenths faster than Norris’ pole lap last year and set up a thrilling duel in prospect for qualifying later on Saturday when rising temperatures, requiring additional cooling for the cars, will favor different teams.
After his struggles in Belgium last weekend and on Friday in Hungary, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton bounced back to more familiar form by taking fourth place, three-tenths adrift of Leclerc.
Four-time champion Max Verstappen wound up 12th for Red Bull.
The close nature of the contest would have intrigued the visiting Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One’s retired former ringmaster who negotiated the first Hungarian race, behind the ‘iron curtain’ in 1986.
With 20 minutes gone, the big teams joined the fray. After his travails on Friday, Verstappen needed some improvement and quickly clocked 1:16.547 to go top only for Leclerc, George Russell and then Piastri to move clear.
The Australian’s lap of 1:16.240 lifted him clear of Russell, but it was not enough to resist the increased pace of Verstappen who went top in 1:16.202 — half a second better than his Friday best.
Contrary to Hamilton’s struggles, Leclerc showed pace in his Ferrari to beat Verstappen after half an hour in 1:16.137, six-hundredths of a second clear, but Piastri returned to remind his rivals of his affinity with the circuit in 1:15.871.
Somewhat unexpectedly, Hamilton then proved his overnight homework had been fruitful by rising to second, ahead of Leclerc, in 1:16.015, a reminder of his status as a record eight-time winner at the Hungaroring.
Norris, at this time, was down in fifth, rising to third after 35 minutes, two-tenths adrift of Piastri who, after a pits visit, returned to clock 1:14.916, a lap faster than last year’s pole, by Norris, by three-tenths.
Norris followed him to overhaul Hamilton who stayed third seven-tenths adrift of the mighty McLarens before being pushed to fourth by Leclerc.