Live Updates from the Hungarian Grand Prix's Third Practice Session: Franco Colapinto's Performance
In the third practice session of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Franco Colapinto, the Alpine driver, set the ball rolling with a time of 1m18s006/1000 on soft tires. However, his performance on Friday was less impressive, finishing 18th and 20th in the first and second practice sessions respectively.
Colapinto spoke about the difficulties his team faced on Friday and the need to improve for the rest of the weekend. He was 1s535/1000 behind Lando Norris, the fastest driver in both Friday practices, in the second session.
Norris, driving for McLaren, was followed by Oscar Piastri in the second practice session. A near-collision between the two McLaren drivers during the session added a tense moment to the proceedings.
Elsewhere on the track, Max Verstappen, the Red Bull driver, described his car as "uncontrollable" after finishing ninth in the first practice and 14th in the second. He also threw a towel out of his cockpit mid-lap, earning a warning from race control.
Many drivers, including Colapinto, are still in the pits with an hour of testing left in the third practice session. McLaren and Aston Martin are doing a lap, settling their tires, and returning to the pits without registering a time on the hard compound.
The qualifying session is scheduled to start later on August 2 at 4 pm local time (CEST), and no qualifying results are yet reported. Coverage of the third practice session is available on Fox Sports and the Disney+ platform.
Sources:
[1] Formula1News.com, "Franco Colapinto struggles with confidence in the Alpine car during the 2025 season", August 2, 2025.
[2] Motorsport.com, "Hungarian Grand Prix Qualifying: Start time, how to watch, and more", August 2, 2025.
[3] Autosport.com, "Third practice session of the Hungarian GP: Live blog", August 2, 2025.
[4] GPUpdate.net, "Lando Norris fastest in both practice sessions at Hungaroring", August 2, 2025.
[5] ESPN.com, "Franco Colapinto: Alpine driver struggles in Hungarian GP practice", August 2, 2025.
This article is by Orlando Ríos and is part of the Formula 1 section on the website.
Colapinto acknowledged the challenges his Alpine team faced in the sports domain on Friday, expressing the need for improvement in the sports racing category for the rest of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend. Despite setting the fastest time in the third practice session, he was still behind Lando Norris, the fastest driver in both practice sessions, indicating a gap in performance.
