Piastri edges Norris as McLaren dominate Hungarian GP final practice
BUDAPEST: Formula One championship leader Oscar Piastri beat team-mate and title rival Lando Norris by just three-hundredths of a second as McLaren dominated Saturday’s third and final practice session at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The two McLaren men clocked times of 1min 14.916 sec and 1:14.948 respectively to finish 0.399 clear of third-placed Charles Leclerc of Ferrari and are separated by just 0.032 seconds. Piastri’s best lap was three-tenths faster than Norris’ pole lap last year and set up a thrilling duel in prospect for qualifying later on Saturday when rising temperatures, requiring additional cooling for the cars, will favor different teams. After his struggles in Belgium last weekend and on Friday in Hungary, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton bounced back to more familiar form by taking fourth place, three-tenths adrift of Leclerc. Four-time champion Max Verstappen wound up 12th for Red Bull. The close nature of the contest would have intrigued the visiting Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One’s retired former ringmaster who negotiated the first Hungarian race, behind the ‘iron curtain’ in 1986. With 20 minutes gone, the big teams joined the fray.