Lando Norris gave McLaren hope of challenging for their first Grand Prix pole position of the season in their upgraded car in Hungary by impressively outpacing Friday pacesetter Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes’ title-leading Kimi Antonelli in final practice.
Ferrari had appeared the big favourites for Saturday’s qualifying fight after dominating the opening day’s practice but, while they remained right in the mix at the front, they were usurped in the final hour of practice running by the reigning world champions.
Norris was second to Hamilton after their respective first laps on soft tyres at the end of the session but the McLaren driver then impressively found more speed on his second flying lap, on which he uncorked a 1:17.939 to pip his Ferrari rival to the top of the timesheet by 0.117s.
After an unusually-difficult Friday, Antonelli was back in the mix at the front too and finished third fastest, 0.129s behind Norris.
But team-mate George Russell continued to struggle and wound up only sixth fastest, 0.6s slower than Norris’ impressive time.
Charles Leclerc was 0.3s off the pace in fourth in the second Ferrari, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri a tenth further back in fifth. However, it was a more difficult session for Red Bull, with Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar seventh and eighth-fastest respectively.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Look back at some of the most dramatic moments throughout the years at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle said: “It’s so close, as it always is here. It bodes incredibly well for this afternoon.”
The battle to head the midfield looks set to be led by Racing Bulls and Audi, with the former’s Liam Lawson taking ninth ahead of the latter’s Nico Hulkenberg in 10th.
But 13th-fastest Arvid Lindblad completed just six laps in the other Racing Bulls after a power-unit change in the garage kept the British rookie sidelined for all but the session’s final minutes.
Cadillac also ran in to problems as a brake fire caused Sergio Perez to pull up in the run-off area at Turn One on his lap out of the pits. The Mexican was unable to return over the rest of the session.
But there was a track return for Lance Stroll in the massively-upgraded Aston Martin after he missed Friday’s second session due to the rear-suspension failure that spun him off track in opening practice.
The further encouragement for the Adrian Newey-led team was that the new-look AMR26, which has spent much of the season so far rooted to the back of the grid, outpaced the Williams and Cadillac cars to take 17th for Fernando Alonso and 18th for Stroll in a best time 2.4s off the ultimate pace.
Sky Sports F1’s Hungarian GP schedule
Saturday July 25
1.10pm: F2 Sprint*
2.15pm: Hungarian GP Qualifying build-up*
3pm: HUNGARIAN GP QUALIFYING*
5pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*
Sunday July 26
7.35am: F3 Feature Race
9.05am: Porsche Supercup
10.20am: F2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Hungarian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
2pm: THE HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Hungarian GP reaction: Chequered Flag*
5pm: Ted’s Notebook*
*Also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 is in Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix with every session live on Sky Sports F1. Sunday’s race starts at 2pm. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime