– The training Friday at the Hungaroring was all about further development and aerodynamic comparisons for the McLaren team. While Lando Norris spent the entire day with a new underbody, junior driver Leonardo Fornaroli used an experimental, rotating rear wing in the first free practice session.
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For Oscar Piastri, who had to sit out FT1 in favor of the rookie, initially only the role of observer remained. The new rear wing concept passed its first practical test without problems. Fornaroli, who replaced Piastri for the mandatory rookie session, completed 29 laps with the rotating wing and collected data at constant speed on the straights.
“The wing worked exactly as intended, which is very encouraging for the team,” reports the F1 reservist with satisfaction. The Papaya racing team also draws a positive conclusion regarding the regular updates. Norris tested the new underbody package in direct comparison to the old specification, which was initially driven by Fornaroli and in the afternoon by Piastri.
Norris fights his way to P3 – Wind causes difficult conditions
Although gusty wind and changing track conditions made it difficult to find a rhythm, Norris finished third in the second practice session – just one aborted attempt on the soft tires away from an even better time.
“We brought some new parts today and need to understand them better,” Norris summarizes. “We know we won’t close the gap to the front all at once, but we are taking steps in the right direction.”
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His teammate Oscar Piastri first had to adapt to the conditions and finished P8 with the old specification. Nevertheless, his anticipation for Saturday is great: “I haven’t had the new parts on the car yet today. But on Lando’s car, they seem to be working exactly as expected. I’m looking forward to having them on my car tomorrow.”
McLaren urges patience before qualifying
In the McLaren camp, there is cautious optimism, but it is emphasized that the path back to the absolute top is gradual. Race director Randy Singh praised Friday as an intense but extremely instructive day for the engineers.
“The most positive thing about our runs is that every new component worked exactly as we expected,” said Singh. “We remain realistic about our position. The gap to the very front has been large in recent races, and we knew we wouldn’t close it all at once. But the signs are encouraging.”
