02/08/2025 06:30
Oscar Piastri was forced to make changes to his McLaren for FP2 at
the Hungarian Grand Prix after the MCL39 "behaved a bit
unexpectedly" during FP1. The Australian finished second fastest in
the first two free practice hours at the Hungaroring, with Lando
Norris topping the timing board in each session. Whilst a mere 19
milliseconds behind his team-mate in the first, he found himself
almost three-tenths of a second adrift in the second. Nonetheless,
the eight-time grand prix winner was relatively happy with the
first day of running in Budapest, where he took his maiden victory
12 months ago. When asked if he was pretty pleased with his work
out on track, the 24-year-old confirmed he was. "I think generally,
yes," said Piastri. "We've had to change a few things and try and
make the car a bit better, but the performance has been very good.
So all in all, pretty happy. "Some things to tidy up. It wasn't the
smoothest of FP2s, but I think the underlying pace is good, so
excited for the rest of the weekend." Explaining what led to him
not being quite on the pace of Norris, Piastri admitted changes
were needed to his car, with further "fine-tuning" still to come.
"I think just the grip level was very high today," he said. "The
car has been quick all day, just in FP1 it behaved a bit
unexpectedly, so we changed a few things and made it a lot better
for FP2, but yeah, now just fine-tuning the normal things. "I think
just the group level was a lot higher than we expected, especially
compared to last year. So just those things." Charles Leclerc
finished both sessions in third and was able to keep close company
with Piastri. Nonetheless, the McLaren driver is optimistic for the
rest of the weekend, despite pointing out the SF-25 showed good
form over one lap. "I think this is a track that should suit us
quite well, and it has done previously," he added. "But Ferrari
looked quick in FP1. I've not seen the long runs from FP2, but I
think we're in a good place."
