Hungarian Grand Prix FP2: Lewis Hamilton fastest, Ferrari own Friday, Mercedes struggle
F1 NewsFriday, 24 July 2026 at 18:00
Ferrari's strong form continued in Budapest as Lewis Hamilton topped the second practice for the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix with Charles Leclerc a close second as Mercedes struggled.
It was a tricky session for all drivers as the dusty track lacked grip with the wind making it tough for them to keep their cars under control.
However, that didn't seem to apply to Ferrari who seemed to be able to extract lap time easily from their SF-26 which was expected to go well around the Hungaroring.
Hamilton posted a lap time of 1:18.729 which the best of the session and 0.148s ahead of Leclerc, who was second in the sister car.
Then there was a bit of a gap as reigning Formula 1 Champion Lando Norris was third fastest, half a second off the pace.
Max Verstappen, not happy with the stiffness of his car and his seating position, was fourth fastest, 0.629s away from Hamilton's benchmark.
George Russell's struggled carried on into FP2 as he was fifth fastest almost one second off the pace while his teammate and Championship leader, Kimi Antonelli was down in 13th, almost two seconds away from the top.
The Italian couldn't gel with his car, struggling with balance and rear-brake locking and couldn't put in a decent lap on Soft tyres which means his lap time in not representative.
Nevertheless, Mercedes have some work to do overnight to turn things around before Qualifying on Saturday.
Isack Hadjar was sixth fastest in the second Red Bull Racing RB22, 1.071s down on the best time and was followed by Liam Lawson in seventh.
Oscar Piastri was eighth fastest after missing FP1 and was ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in ninth as Arvid Lindblad completed the top ten.
As for Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso was 19th, three seconds off the pace as Lance Stroll did not take part as the team could not repair his car before FP2.
Buildup towards FP1
FP1 left us with more questions than answers as Ferrari topped the timing screens with Leclerc while Verstappen chased albeit with a big gap between him and the Monegasque.
There was also the general consensus that the track is bumpier this year with many drivers complaining about ride heights while Turn 1 proved tricky under braking for several drivers.
Russell struggled massively in FP1 while Antonelli sat out the session with Frederik Vesti taking over so we couldn't really compare the Mercedes drivers.
As for Aston Martin, their upgraded AMR26 did not set the world alight, it even broke in Stroll's hands, a failed suspension indicating the Adrian Newey may have gone too far with the weight reduction.
However, Alonso did manage to break into the top 15 by finishing 13th fastest, so maybe there is hope...
All the regular drivers who gave their seats to rookies in FP1 will be back into the cockpit in FP2.
FP2 Session Highlights
The session started in clear conditions with track temperatures at 32 degrees Celsius with air temperature at 24 degrees.
All the cars were on Mediums except the Audis and the
Soon Pierre Gasly reported that his car was wrong, worse than FP1, and that front did not feel ok in Turn 12 as Russell said his car felt dreadful and totally out of balance.
Then Leclerc had a lock up into Turn 1. Early on in the session, he and Hamilton were taking turns on the top spot in the timing screens.
Antonelli radioed that he almost spun under breaking twice and that he was locking the rears. He was called back into the pits.
Norris had a moment in the final corner, suffering a snap as he put his foot down while Hadjar locked up into Turn 1.
Piastri, back in the car after missing FP1, ran wide at Turn 11.
Oscar Piastri runs very wide at Turn 11 before finding his way back on track again #F1 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/MwlYI2TNQ3
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 24, 2026
The drivers were working hard keeping their cars pointing in the right directions and soon Leclerc locked up at Turn 12, ran wide, as Antonelli caught a snap in the final corner.
Alex Albon was out of shape in the chicane but managed to keep his car in one piece.
Gusty winds and dirt on the track are helping make this session very lively! 😮#F1 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/rdRe5sgnsK
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 24, 2026
As session closed onto the halfway mar, the Soft runs began with Norris doing a timed lap first going fastest with Verstappen going second fastest as more drivers joined them with the red-walled tyres.
Verstappen complained about his seating position, calling it terrible and that he was laying down more.
With 32 minutes remaining, Franco Colapinto lost control of his Alpine in the final corner, the rear stepping out and he ended up in the barrier causing a Red Flag.
Here's what happened to Franco 👇#F1 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/MKuked8EBg
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 24, 2026
The session was restarted with 25 minutes remaining and Antonelli set out trying to complete a lap on the Softs, his first effort interrupted by Colapinto's crash.
The Italian messed up Turn 6 and had to abort again. He radioed complaining that he keeps locking the rears.
Antonelli's push lap on the soft tyres is derailed through Turns 6 and 7 #F1 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/Z9n9ab6PBy
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 24, 2026
Then the Ferrari came along and quite easily went first and second fastest, Leclerc from Hamilton with 0.037s separating them.
Verstappen radioed that he hit debris with his front wing, he didn't know what it was and asked the team to keep an eye on it.
Antonelli had another huge lockup into Turn 2 as replay showed it was debris from Alonso's Aston Martin that hit Verstappen.
Meanwhile Hamilton was on another lap and improved to take the top spot.
With less than 15 minutes remaining, the long runs started with higher fuel loads.
Verstappen said his real axle was completely locked and super stiff, adding that he had no rear grip.
More off-road adventures, this time with Lando 👀#F1 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/XBeXn0Z1Kq
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 24, 2026
Then Norris had a moment in the Turn 6/7 chicane, losing the rear but then managing to hold it.
The session ended with practice starts as usual.
Hungarian Grand Prix FP2 Classification
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