Hungarian GP: Norris fastest again in FP2 as FIA launch Verstappen investigation

Oliver Harden 01 Aug 2025 5:00 PM

An action shot of Lando Norris's McLaren on track in Hungary

Lando Norris (McLaren MCL39) in action in practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix

McLaren driver Lando Norris set the pace in FP2 at the Hungarian Grand Prix at Budapest.

Norris clocked a fastest time of 1:15.624 in Friday’s second practice session in Hungary, outpacing McLaren team-mate and F1 2025 championship leader Oscar Piastri by 0.291 seconds.

Hungarian GP: Lando Norris sets pace in FP2 as Max Verstappen investigation launched

However, it wasn’t quite so smooth sailing for Max Verstappen who lacked pace throughout and finds himself facing a post-session investigation after a bizarre incident in which he appeared to throw a towel from his cockpit.

Partly cloudy conditions greeted the 20 drivers at the start of FP2 in Hungary.

Among those drivers was Fernando Alonso, back in the Aston Martin for Friday’s second session after missing FP1 as the two-time World Champion managed a muscular injury in his back.

Hungarian Grand Prix: The story of Friday in Budapest

? Hungarian GP: Norris sets FP1 pace as injured Alonso misses out

? 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2 F1 results (Hungaroring)

Alonso wasted little time in getting up to speed, lapping within a tenth and a half of team-mate Lance Stroll with his first lap of the day.

Also making his first appearance of the day was Nico Hulkenberg, who sat out the first session as Paul Aron made his latest FP1 appearance for Sauber.

Hulkenberg ran wide at the exit of Turn 12 early on, throwing a sea of stones onto the circuit as he too got into the swing of things.

Championship leader Piastri caught the grass on entry to the final corner on his first flying lap of the day.

It did not stop him setting a fastest final sector, but the McLaren driver lost time by running wide at the quick left-hander of Turn 4 earlier in the lap.

FP1 pacesetter Norris was quickly up to speed on mediums, going 0.265s clear of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari with his opening lap of the session.

Piastri improved significantly with his next effort, putting himself 0.219s clear of his team-mate.

Meanwhile, George Russell and Oliver Bearman came close together around the flowing sweeps of Turn 8 and 9.

“What’s Bearman doing?” Russell said over team radio. “I was on the left-hand side, I was letting him by.”

As in FP1, Red Bull were off the pace in the early stage of the second session with Verstappen and Tsunoda eighth and ninth respectively.

Tsunoda reported at one stage: “Balance is so messy!”

Asked to pinpoint the main balance limitation a short time later, Verstappen added: “It’s front and rear, mate. It’s just like driving on ice.”

As Red Bull’s troubles were unfolding, Norris re-established his advantage at the top of the timesheets by putting 0.172s between himself and Piastri.

Carlos Sainz was the first driver to turn to softs, improving from 14th to third on his first attempt despite dipping a wheel in the gravel on the exit of Turn 5 and setting a new fastest first sector in the process.

Stroll too went quickest of all in the first sector, surging to the top of the timesheets as others opened their laps on softs.

Yet the Aston Martin driver’s time at the top did not last long as Norris, Piastri and Leclerc bettered it in quick succession, the former going 0.291s clear on that occasion.

Piastri failed to improve on his next attempt, dipping a couple of wheels into the gravel on the exit of the chicane.

The stewards announced that Verstappen would be investigated after the session after the Red Bull driver was seen throwing a towel from his cockpit at Turn 3.

Norris suffered a brief scare at the final corner after making the same mistake as Piastri, dipping his rear wheels into the grass on turn in and spearing on to the run-off area.

Watching the incident from behind, Russell said: “Ooh, Norris!”

Alonso underlined Aston Martin’s promising pace by improving to fifth on softs, lapping around a tenth slower than team-mate Stroll.

Attention turned to the long runs as the final 15 minutes of the session approached, with Sainz initially told to return to the Williams garage after the team lost all telemetry before being instructed to stay out.

With Sainz unaware of the cars around him, Liam Lawson was left exasperated by the Williams driver in front of him before Racing Bulls clarified Sainz’s situation.

Lawson said: “Oh my god, man, look at this!”

“He lost radio. He lost radio and telemetry,” Lawson was told.

Lawson’s team-mate Isack Hadjar was also frustrated in traffic, saying of Russell at one stage: “Is this guy doing this on purpose or what? What’s wrong with him?”

Verstappen had slipped to 14th by this stage, with the reigning four-time World Champion unable to contain his frustration over team radio.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” he said. “It’s just undriveable. I can’t get any balance.”

Norris and Piastri had a near miss in the closing moments of the session, with the former locking up on the inside of Turn 1 as he exited the pits while his team-mate navigated the corner.