Ferrari top second practice in Hungary, Antonelli only 13th

Lewis Hamilton topped FP2 with a lap time of 1:18:729 | Credit: @ScuderiaFerrari via X

The second session of the Hungarian Grand Prix saw Lewis Hamilton top the timesheet in Hungary with Charles Leclerc close behind in second. Ferrari showed a strong performance today at the Hungaroring after Leclerc went fastest in FP1 and Hamilton placed only two places behind.

Out on track for the first time this weekend was Kimi Antonelli, Oscar Piastri, Franco Colapinto, Oliver Bearman and Valtteri Bottas, who all sat out of FP1 to allow rookie drivers to get in the cars around the circuit.

Lance Stroll unfortunately had to miss out on this session due to a suspension issue on the Aston Martin, which was confirmed by Adrian Newey ahead of the practice. Luckily, this issue wasn't related to any upgrades that the team have made on the car, but heading into the session, there was no gearbox, rear axel or rear wing on the AMR26, hence missing out on FP2.

Early on in the session, Hamilton set the benchmark of 1:19:648, ahead of his Ferrari teammate Leclerc. Hamilton has the most wins out of any Formula One driver around the Hungaroring and he continued to prove why early in the weekend.

Arvid Lindblad in his rookie season has been impressive throughout this year so far, regularly in the points and early in the hour set a quick time that got him up in the top 10 along with his Racing Bulls teammate Liam Lawson.

Whether a mechanical issue or to do with the wind gusts in Hungary, George Russell didn't sound to happy with his Mercedes W17: "The car feels dreadful, it's so out of balance." Antonelli also noted over the radio about his breaking balance, having nearly spun out a couple of times due to the rear tyres locking up. At this point, the championship leader only managed to go sixth fastest, with Lando Norris just up ahead.

Norris in seventh continued to push in hopes of having another successful weekend for McLaren in Hungary. The team has the most wins around the circuit out of any other team, with 13 Grand Prix victories. He managed to move ahead up to the top of the timings, with a 1:19:228.

Max Verstappen also moved ahead of Hamilton and into second after setting great pace in FP1. However, after that flying lap, he showed concern over his seat position.

Colapinto only 20th on the timesheet brought out a red flag midway into the session after losing the rear tyres and crashing out at the final corner. The Argentinian was thankfully okay, but there was a lot of damage to the rear of his Alpine.

Unfortunately for Antonelli, his flying lap was aborted due to the issue despite being faster than Norris in the first sector.

Practice was resumed quickly following the Alpine being removed from the track and Colapinto's arrival back into the garage. Both Mercedes drivers were on fresh soft tyres for this next stint, which unfortunately didn't work out the first time round for Antonelli who ran wide at Turn 6 and had to bail on his lap again.

Leclerc, who was fastest in FP1, went fastest again with a rapid lap time of 1:18:887, and Hamilton also moved back up only three hundredths off pace.

Pierre Gasly wasn't the quickest he's been around the track. Down in 15th, the French driver managed to move up two places with 16 minutes to go.

Verstappen was back on the radio after he hit some debris on the main straight, but there was no damage to the Red Bull as the four-time champion continued his laps around the track.

Hamilton managed to move back ahead of Leclerc, with a laptime of 1:18:729, with a swift final sector. Meanwhile, Antonelli continued to struggle around the Hungaroring as he went off again and had to bail another flying lap. He was only in 13th with less than a quarter of the time left to go.

Nico Hülkenberg had a decent trip around the track, going ninth fastest overall. We even saw an unusual bit of racing between Hülkenberg and Lindblad during the practice.

We saw Norris following closely behind Antonelli, but he had to abort the lap after some gravel being flicked up towards him from the rear of Antonelli's Mercedes.

Williams had a tough day in Hungary, Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz only managing to place 16th and 17th on the timesheet.

Hamilton was fastest overall with Leclerc just behind and Norris in third. It was an exciting FP2 that showed a glimpse into what we could see on Sunday's Grand Prix with the 2026 cars being able to follow so closely behind one another.