The second practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix took place under partly cloudy skies on Friday afternoon. Fernando Alonso was back behind the wheel for Aston Martin after missing the first session due to a back injury.

Also returning to the track was Nico Hulkenberg, who had sat out the morning session for Sauber while Paul Aron took his place. Early in FP2, Hulkenberg ran wide at Turn 12, kicking stones across the track as he began his run.

Oscar Piastri also had a small moment on his first lap, touching the grass into the final corner. Despite that, he set the fastest time in the final sector, although an earlier mistake at Turn 4 cost him time.

Lando Norris, fastest in the first practice, quickly showed strong pace again on medium tyres, going 0.265 seconds quicker than Charles Leclerc. Piastri improved shortly after, moving ahead of Norris by 0.219 seconds.

There was a close call between George Russell and Oliver Bearman through Turns 8 and 9. Russell was surprised by Bearman’s move and asked over the radio, “What’s Bearman doing? I was on the left-hand side, I was letting him by.”

Red Bull continued to struggle, with Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda only eighth and ninth in the early part of the session. Tsunoda complained that the car’s balance was messy, while Verstappen compared his car’s handling to driving on ice, saying it lacked grip at both the front and rear. He was also later placed under investigation after throwing a towel out of his cockpit at Turn 3.

Norris returned to the top of the timesheets by going 0.172 seconds quicker than Piastri. Carlos Sainz was the first to try the soft tyres, moving up from fourteenth to third, even after briefly touching the gravel at Turn 5.

Lance Stroll then went fastest in the first sector and jumped to the top of the table on his first soft-tyre lap. However, his lead was short-lived as Norris, Piastri, and Leclerc all went faster within minutes. Norris set a time of 1:15.624, almost three tenths clear of his team-mate.

Piastri made a mistake on his next attempt, running wide at the chicane. Norris also had a scare at the final corner, putting two wheels on the grass and sliding into the run-off. George Russell, watching from behind, reacted by saying, “Ooh, Norris!”

Carlos Sainz was briefly asked to return to the Williams garage after the team lost all telemetry, but they later told him to stay out. This created confusion on track, and Liam Lawson became frustrated when he caught Sainz unaware, shouting, “Oh my god, man, look at this!” Racing Bulls informed him that Sainz had lost both radio and telemetry.

Isack Hadjar also had a frustrating moment in traffic, questioning Russell’s driving and asking, “Is this guy doing this on purpose or what?”

Towards the end of the session, there was a nerve-wracking moment when Norris locked up and nearly hit Piastri, but both continued without damage.

Lando Norris finished the session on top once again with a best time of 1:15.624, ahead of Oscar Piastri in second and Charles Leclerc in third. Lance Stroll impressed with fourth, while Fernando Alonso took fifth in his return to the car. Lewis Hamilton was sixth in the second Ferrari, just ahead of George Russell in seventh. Isack Hadjar placed eighth for Racing Bulls, with Yuki Tsunoda in ninth and Andrea Kimi Antonelli rounding out the top ten for Mercedes.