2026 Hungarian Grand Prix - Practice Report

Hungaroring, Friday, 24 July

Find out what happened during FP1 and FP2 in Belgium, and get the thoughts of McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Drivers Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and Leonardo Fornaroli, and Senior Director, Racing Randy Singh.

It has been a busy but productive Friday for the McLaren Mastercard F1 Team in Hungary, which saw an upgrade package fitted to Lando Norris' car, a successful test of the rotational rear wing, and Leonardo Fornaroli take part in his second FP1 session, replacing Oscar Piastri for the team’s second of four mandated rookie outings, having driven Lando’s car in Barcelona. 

Lando ran the full day with the new floor, which behaved as the team anticipated. While there is still setup work and data analysis to run through to maximise the package, the team finished the first day of running at the Hungaroring pleased that small gains have been made when comparing it to the previous iteration of the floor, which Oscar and Leonardo ran to facilitate comparative tests.

For FP1, the cars ran different programmes, with Leonardo running a series of tests with the experimental revolving rear wing. The rotational wing also performed as expected, as the team look to test the item before introducing it to the race specification in the future.

Both started the session with a Medium tyre on the car before switching to a Soft tyre. Lando’s session was largely conventional, he ran with flo-vis on the rear floor, returning to the garage for front and rear ride height changes across the session, and switched to the Soft tyre just before the half-hour mark. There was a Red Flag for a stricken Aston Martin that curtailed his Soft run, and once the track went green, he finished FP2 at high fuel, starting on the used Medium tyre, and swapping to the Soft before the end of the session.

Leonardo’s session featured more laps – 29 to Lando’s 26 – but fewer pushing laps, with the team’s Reserve Driver completing a vast amount of aero work, running Constant Speed Limit (CSL) sectors to gather data in a steady state. His programme with the rotational rear wing was cautious, beginning the session with advanced braking points, and then moving deeper into the braking zones in increments.

Oscar jumped in for FP2, with his car reverted to a standard rear wing package, and running the previous iteration of the floor. Lando, however, continued with the new floor fitted to his car, allowing the team to get a good comparison between the cars. The wind picked up during the session, and many cars were struggling for grip, including the McLarens. 

As with FP1, both drivers ran a Medium tyre first before switching to a Soft. Lando went to the top of the order with his first lap on the Soft tyre, and, after a cool-down lap, set two purple sectors before a Red Flag curtailed that attempt. Oscar was just starting his first Soft tyre flying lap at that point, so had to abort.

Wind continued to prevail, which combined with the low-grip conditions, caused most drivers on the grid problems. Both of the team’s drivers negotiated the challenges well and completed the session with high-fuel runs. Lando finished P3 with 30 laps on the board, Oscar P8 with 28 laps. 

The day, overall, saw the team complete its programmes, and gather an encouraging amount of data on a variety of upgrades both for immediate deployment and long-term development. Now, attention turns to finding gains overnight, continuing to work on the setup into FP3 to ensure the car is in the best position to qualify well ahead of Sunday’s race.

In the McLaren Driver Development Programme, Matteo De Palo finished FIA Formula 3 Practice in Hungary in P28, qualifying in P29. In British F4 at Thruxton Circuit, Dries Van Langendonck finished Free Practice 1 in P1 and Free Practice 2 in P2. In Italian F4 at Mugello, Christian Costoya finished P25 in Free Practice 1, P8 in Free Practice 2, before qualifying P4 in Qualifying Group 2.

“A tricky day, not the easiest two sessions for us. While we took a step forward this afternoon, we've still got some work to do. We've introduced some new bits on the car today, and we need to understand those a bit better and how we can get them dialled in. We know we're not going to catch the guys ahead immediately, so we need to keep working hard, but we're making steps in the right direction in a few areas. We'll work hard overnight to get more out of this package and see what we can do tomorrow.”

“It was a very challenging session for us. The track conditions were difficult with the high winds, and the newer sections of the circuit are quite worn with very low grip, which made finding a rhythm tough. Only running for one session today meant it took a little more for me to get into FP2, but thank you to Leo for his support this morning. We gathered as much data as we could under the circumstances and will work this evening and into FP3 tomorrow to find improvements.

“The new parts seem to be working as expected on Lando's car, and I'm looking forward to having them on mine tomorrow. The Ferraris look strong, but we feel we are in the mix. If we can put everything together and execute a clean Quali, we believe there is a good opportunity to make a lot of progress and be in the fight for a strong result.”

Leonardo Fornaroli

F1 Development and Reserve Driver

“It was a good session in the MCL40. We got 29 laps in, and I found a good rhythm quickly after a month out of the car. Our pace on the Medium was strong from the first laps, but I had a lock up on the Soft run - this is a learning point for me. We also ran the rotational rear wing, and it worked as intended, which is encouraging for the team.

“Overall, I’m happy with how today went and the team’s positive feedback. I learned a lot and was able to gather a lot of valuable data and support with the setup of the car for Oscar, which was my main focus. Thank you again to the team for the opportunity.”

Randy Singh

Senior Director, Racing

“Overall, it has been an intense day for the McLaren Mastercard Team. The most positive takeaway from our running is that every new component we brought to the track performed as we expected. The drivers all did a fantastic job in what were very difficult conditions on track, especially with the wind, and we gathered a lot of useful data. Lando ran the new package all day, with Oscar running the old specification floor in his only session to facilitate our comparative work. Leonardo Fornaroli also played a big part in that during FP1, and his diligent work has been really valuable for our programme and future development. We have a solid foundation and feel we have taken a good step in the right direction.

“We remain realistic about our position. The gap to the front has been significant in recent races, and we always knew we weren’t going to close that in one go. However, the signs are encouraging, and this progress gives us confidence that our development path is the correct one. We are reasonably positive and look forward to seeing where we stand in Qualifying on Saturday.”