Norris tops Hungarian GP practice as Verstappen investigated

Hungarian Grand Prix

Venue: Hungaroring Dates: 1-3 August Race start: 14:00 BST on Sunday

Coverage: Live commentary of practice and qualifying on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2 with race on BBC Radio 5 Live; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app

Lando Norris headed team-mate Oscar Piastri to a McLaren one-two in Friday practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Norris was 0.291 seconds quicker than the Australian, who leads the Briton by 16 points in the world championship heading into the last race before Formula 1's summer break.

But neither driver had an ideal run in the second session - Norris had to abort his first flying lap after a mistake at Turn Two, while Piastri had heavy traffic on his fastest.

Norris went again and beat the benchmark time set by Piastri, but his tyres would have not been in optimum condition.

Norris then had a narrow escape at the final corner when he got his outside front wheel on the grass turning in, and ran wide into the run-off area.

Norris was also fastest in the first session, just 0.019secs ahead of Piastri.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was third fastest, 0.399secs off Norris' pace, ahead of the Aston Martins of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso.

Alonso missed the first session to give himself more time to recover from a muscle problem in his back but was soon back up to speed on a track that is expected to suit the Aston Martin better than high-speed Spa-Francorchamps last week.

Lewis Hamilton was sixth fastest, 0.306secs slower than team-mate Leclerc and appearing to struggle with rear-end stability on the evidence of several oversteer snaps that sent him into the run-off area at the chicane.

Mercedes driver George Russell was seventh, ahead of Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar, Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda and Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen was in 14th, and said over the radio: "I don't know what's going on. It's undrivable. I just can't get any balance."

The four-time champion is also under investigation from race stewards for appearing to throw an item out of his cockpit whilst on track.