Lando Norris predicts eight-way fight for pole at Hungarian Grand Prix

McLaren driver Lando Norris anticipates a big battle for pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix

Lando Norris got his Hungarian Grand Prix off on the right foot Friday, topping the timing sheets in the second practice session. The McLaren driver posted a thunderous lap to finish 0.243 seconds clear of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the driver Norris is chasing in the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship.

Still, Norris believes any number of cars could be in the mix for pole position on Saturday.

“From today, pretty reasonable. It was a nice lap. Today, we could get a good amount of it, but tomorrow’s another day,” said Norris to Sky Sports F1 following practice on Friday.

“I think it’s close between us, Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull,” added Norris. “I feel like we have eight cars here who are going to be fighting for a pole, and even some other cars that looked very quick, like the Haas even.”

Norris was referring to Kevin Magnussen, who turned some heads with the sixth-fastest time in Friday’s second practice session.

“A good first day but definitely a little bit more work to do if we want to be a bit more comfortable,” concluded Norris.

It was a mixed day on the other side of McLaren’s garage. Oscar Piastri was seventh-fastest in FP1, but was off the pace somewhat in FP2, as he finished 13th.

“A mixed day on track. FP1 looked very good but FP2 was challenging, so it’s important we get an understanding of why that was the case. The other car looked quick today which is a positive for the team,” said Piastri in the team’s post-practice report. “If we can sort out whatever happened in FP2, then we should be somewhere close to the front with a strong Quali.”

McLaren enters the Hungarian Grand Prix right on Ferrari’s heels in the F1 Constructors’ Championship standings. A combination of a strong run of form for McLaren, and some struggles at Ferrari, has seen the Woking-based team climb to within seven points of the Scuderi.

Can McLaren leapfrog Ferrari into second this weekend? Saturday will go a long way toward telling that chapter of the story.