Key events39m agoPreambleAs “a lap from nowhere” is always a possibility, there is no truly reliable guide to qualifying. And remember, Mercedes have taken pole position for every main race (Antonelli 6, Russell 4). But FP3 suggested they have a battle on their hands.
double quotation markLando Norris saw off the challenge from Ferrari to finish fastest in final practice for Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton was quickest at the Hungaroring on Friday, but he ended the last running before qualifying 0.117sec behind Norris’s McLaren.
Hamilton ran wide at the chicane after beating Norris’s first sector to suggest there will be more to come from the seven-time world champion in qualifying.
Kimi Antonelli finished a distant 13th on Friday but the championship leader returned to set the third-fastest lap, just 0.129 sec off the pace. Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari, while George Russell’s troubles appear to have carried over to Hungary.
Russell said Mercedes had solved the engine glitch which scuppered his previous outing in Belgium. However, he was six tenths slower than Norris and nearly half a second back from his teammate, Antonelli. PA Media
