McLaren teammates narrowly avoid disaster in FP2 dive surprise
McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris nearly collided at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
McLaren teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had a hairy moment at the end of Free Practice 2 for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Lando Norris locked up coming out of the pit lane as Piastri swept around him at speed.
McLaren face near-miss in Hungarian Grand Prix practice
Both McLaren drivers were very nearly caught up in disaster at the close of Free Practice 2 ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The two men, who were leading the field in terms of pure pace, had a hairy moment.
Norris came out of the pit lane to rejoin the track just as Piastri was cruising down the front stretch. Both cars neared Turn 1 at nearly the same time — and the Briton unfortunately locked up.
That forced Piastri to take evasive action from the outside line, as he suddenly found his teammate’s car pointing at him!
Thankfully, there was no contact, though it very nearly could have been a disaster.
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As has been the case for much of the season, McLaren once again sat at the top of the charts in both of Friday’s practice sessions ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
In FP1, Norris set a quickest time of 1:16.052, with Oscar Piastri sneaking in just behind him, a mere +0.019s slower.
Norris shaved that quick time down to a 1:15.624 in FP2 during qualifying simulation runs, outpacing Piastri by +0.291 seconds.
Charles Leclerc was the next closest man to the duo, but his Ferrari remained +0.217s back in FP2 and +0.399 seconds back in FP2.
Aston Martin looked strong in the second practice session, with Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso going fourth and fifth quickest, respectively, while Red Bull driver Max Verstappen had a very difficult day.
Reporting balance issues that he claimed felt like he was driving on ice, Verstappen has also been summoned to the stewards. While on track, the reigning champion slowed his car and tossed what appeared to be a towel out of the cockpit, thereby signalling a potential unsafe release.
Read next: Hungarian GP: Norris fastest again in FP2 as FIA launch Verstappen investigation