Hungarian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2: Alonso back out in front again

The second free practice session of the Hungarian Grand Prix went off without a hitch. The weather, still uncertain for the Saturday qualifying and the race on Sunday, remained mild this afternoon at the Hungaroring.

The McLaren drivers continued their program smoothly, recording the best times of the session. Lando Norris is currently the man in form, but the gap with Piastri is moderate. Only 19 thousandths of a second behind his teammate in FP1 and 3 tenths in FP2. Lando Norris, who had set a time of 1:16.052 in FP1, improved his time by 4 tenths to set a 1:15.624. At the very end of the session, a wheel lockup by Norris at the first corner almost led to a collision between the two McLarens. Fortunately, Piastri was able to avoid his teammate who had just exited the pits.

Charles Leclerc once again sets the third-best time. He continues to make progress as the Ferrari is equipped with a new suspension, already used at Spa last week, and it seems to perform well with it.

More surprisingly, the Aston Martins deliver a strong performance in FP2. Stroll sets the 4th fastest time, ahead of his teammate, Fernando Alonso. The Spanish driver did not take the wheel during FP1, suffering from back pain and preferring to limit his time on track. He then handed his seat over to Felipe Drugovich. While he returned for FP2, his participation in qualifying and the race is still uncertain. A decision will be made tomorrow.

Lewis Hamilton wore out his tires prematurely by regularly locking up the front right tire, completely ruining a set. Despite being less effective with his new suspension on the Ferrari, he still clocks the 6th fastest time in the FP2. He is ahead of his former Mercedes teammate, George Russell, by 0.8 seconds behind Lando Norris.

Several drivers locked up their front right wheel, especially at the first corner, on the long straight of the Budapest track. The settings will need to be reworked by tomorrow before the qualifying session to prevent this during the race.

Many drivers also struggled to get the tires warmed up. This was particularly the case for Max Verstappen, who complained about feeling like he was driving on ice. The Dutchman finished 14th in this session. His teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, set the 9th fastest time.

The first driver for the Red Bull teams is Isack Hadjar, who takes P8. Already P4 in FP1, Hadjar is off to a good start at his Hungarian Grand Prix.

Nico Hülkenberg, who set the 12th fastest time, had a quiet session but spread quite a lot of gravel on the track after going off the track in the first few minutes of the session.

Noteworthy is Sainz’s 16th time with the Williams, which had radio problems, causing some inconvenience for the drivers coming up behind him.

The Alpine drivers, without improvements to the car, are struggling. They bring up the rear.

The result of the free practice 2 of the 2025 Hungary Grand Prix F1