Max Verstappen gathered a 1m16.547s on softs shortly after Lance Stroll went to the top of the times, before the Dutchman's lap was then overcome by Charles Leclerc's 1m16.406s. The Monegasque's spell at the top was short as George Russell went 0.094s faster, but Oscar Piastri then rounded his first soft-tyre lap with a 1m16.240s.

And as has been the case for most of the 2025 Formula 1 season, the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri led the way. Norris topped the timing sheets at the Hungaroring with a lap of 1:16.052, just 0.019 seconds ahead of his teammate Piastri.

Piastri and Norris, who occupy the top two spots in the season’s standings, had dominated the practice sessions in Budapest but had no answer when required to improve their pace in the final seconds of a close battle for pole,