With the final practice session for the Hungarian GP completed, all that's left is qualifying. Lando Norris was able top the table for FP3, however, he is not the favourite for pole position later today.
Despite setting the fastest time in FP3, Ferrari showed a much stronger pace across all 3 practice sessions. Lewis Hamilton came 2nd, while his teammate, Charles Leclerc came 4th. Kimi Antonelli was able to turn things around today with a P3 finish in the final practice session. This comes after a difficult first couple of practice sessions on Friday for the teenage Italian.
While Mercedes claims to have fixed the issue that has been bothering George Russell, he still doesn't seem to have to pace to compete at the top. He finished 6th in FP3, behind Oscar Piastri. After the practice session, we are getting a semi-clear image of what we can expect from qualifying.
2026 Hungarian GP FP3 Results
The top 8 spots in FP3 were taken by the 4 top teams, which was expected from the beginning. Heading into the midfield battle, we have Audi putting up some competition for the Racing Bulls drivers. We also have the newly updated Aston Martin, which was able to stay out of the bottom 4. This may not sound like that much of a big deal, but considering that they have consistently been the worst team on the grid till date, it is a huge boost for them. You can check the FP1 & FP2 results here.
| Position | Driver | Team | Lap Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:17.939 |
| 2. | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1:18.056 |
| 3. | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1:18.068 |
| 4. | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:18.291 |
| 5. | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:18.438 |
| 6. | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:18.541 |
| 7. | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:18.656 |
| 8. | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | 1:18.943 |
| 9. | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 1:19.088 |
| 10. | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | 1:19.160 |
| 11. | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 1:19.338 |
| 12. | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:19.723 |
| 13. | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 1:19.895 |
| 14. | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 1:20.055 |
| 15. | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 1:20.295 |
| 16. | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 1:20.312 |
| 17. | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:20.393 |
| 18. | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:20.933 |
| 19. | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | 1:21.299 |
| 20. | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 1:21.406 |
| 21. | Alex Albon | Williams | 1:21.533 |
| 22. | Sergio Perez | No Time |
There has been a lot of hype around these Aston Martin updates. The team had not brought a single update to the car throughout the season, but have decided to bring everything for this weekend. The only parts that have not been updated on the AMR26 are the front suspension, the power unit and the gearbox. So we can expect both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll fighting to get into Q2.
2026 Hungarian GP Qualifying predictions
Judging by the pace of the cars in the free practice sessions, Cadillac and Williams will have a tough time putting up times to get them qualified into Q2. We can expect a battle between the Aston Martin drivers and the Haas drivers to see who gets the final 2 elimination spots in Q1. There is a strong chance we could get 1 driver from Aston Martin and one driver from Haas get into Q2.
It seems highly unlikely that either Aston Martin or Haas have the pace to get their drivers into Q3. This leaves a interesting battle between Audi, Alpine, and Racing Bulls. Assuming that the top 4 teams, being Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull, will get qualified into Q3, there will be only 2 remaining spots for the midfield teams to fight for.
So far, it has been both the Racing Bulls drivers getting into Q3 more often than not. However, Audi has been showing some impressive pace this weekend. There has been some signs of pace from the Alpine garage as well. So it will be interesting to see which of these drivers get into Q3.
Coming to the top 8, after FP3, it looks as though Red Bull are on the backfoot with McLaren bringing their updates this weekend. However, we can never count out Max Verstappen from putting on a fight for pole position. Between Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes, it will be a close battle for pole position.
Although Lando Norris put in the fastest time for McLaren in FP3, Ferrari have been more consistently fast throughout the weekend. Mercedes did struggle for pace during FP1 and FP2, but Kimi found a few performance points to come in 3rd during FP3. Looking at his form in the season so far, we can expect him in the fight for pole.
But here is our prediction for the top 3: 1st. Hamilton, 2nd. Kimi Antonelli, 3rd. Charles Leclerc.
Post your predictions for the Hungarian GP in the comments section below.
