Ferrari’s advantage over McLaren in Hungarian Grand Prix practice was built in the areas that matter most around the Hungaroring. Although the MCL40 proved faster through the high-speed corners and along the straights, Friday’s data gave the Scuderia a simulated qualifying margin of 0.7 seconds.
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc controlled the two sessions, with Charles Leclerc setting the pace in FP1 before Lewis Hamilton led a Ferrari one-two in FP2. Their performance strengthened expectations that the SF-26 could be the car to beat on Sunday, even though the competitive picture was influenced by disrupted programmes for both McLaren drivers.
Ferrari vs McLaren data reveals where the SF-26 gains time
Ferrari arrived near Budapest widely considered the Hungarian Grand Prix favourite. Several figures within the Formula 1 paddock regard the SF-26 as possessing the strongest chassis on the grid in 2026, while its effective high-downforce aerodynamic package is particularly well suited to the Hungaroring.
The circuit’s tight layout places a premium on mechanical grip, balance and performance through its numerous interconnected corners. Those demands align closely with the SF-26’s established low-speed strength, which Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc exploited throughout Friday.
Charles Leclerc led the opening session as Lando Norris finished only 11th, 1.949 seconds behind the Ferrari driver. McLaren made progress during FP2, when Lando Norris climbed to third, but he remained 0.499 seconds adrift of Lewis Hamilton’s benchmark.
Those headline lap times did not tell the complete story because Lando Norris was unable to finish a clean qualifying simulation. His run was interrupted by the red flags required to recover Franco Colapinto’s Alpine after the Argentine driver crashed at the final corner midway through the session.
Oscar Piastri’s preparations were also limited. The Australian sat out FP1 as Leonardo Fornaroli took over the MCL40, before returning for the second session and placing eighth. Oscar Piastri ended FP2 1.372 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton.
Slow and medium-speed corners deliver Ferrari’s advantage
Based on the simulations published by Formula 1’s official website, McLaren faced an estimated 0.7-second deficit to Ferrari over a qualifying lap. The race-pace analysis also favoured the Scuderia, placing Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri approximately 0.53 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc under simulated race conditions.
The corner breakdown explains why the overall difference was so substantial. Ferrari gained around 0.25 seconds over McLaren solely through the slow-speed corners, while its advantage over Mercedes in the same category reached approximately 0.6 seconds. The gap between Ferrari and McLaren was marginally greater through the medium-speed turns.
That profile supports the pre-weekend expectation that the Hungaroring would reward Ferrari’s strongest characteristics. It also reinforces the comparison showing why Ferrari and Mercedes faced contrasting performance demands in Hungary.
Ferrari’s preparation also included a circuit-specific high-downforce solution, with the team introducing its upgraded Macarena rear wing at the Hungaroring. Friday’s results suggested the overall SF-26 package was working effectively across the sections that account for most of the lap time.
McLaren lead Ferrari in the least rewarding sections
McLaren were not slower everywhere. The MCL40 carried more speed than the SF-26 through the Hungaroring’s high-speed corners and along the straights, giving Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri an advantage in two distinct performance categories.
However, those gains were negligible compared with the time Ferrari recovered elsewhere. The Hungaroring contains relatively few high-speed corners and only short straights, meaning McLaren’s strongest sections provide limited opportunity to influence the overall lap time.
Mercedes recorded the best high-speed corner performance of any team on Friday. Racing Bulls were quickest on the straights, followed by McLaren and then Ferrari. The straight-line comparison was nevertheless less consequential in Budapest than Ferrari’s superiority through the circuit’s slower and medium-speed sequences.
The distribution of performance also underlines how the Hungaroring’s short straights and 2026 energy demands can reduce the lap-time value of outright straight-line speed.
Red Bull face a different Hungarian GP compromise
Red Bull displayed the strongest medium-speed performance of the day, gaining approximately 0.25 seconds on Ferrari in those corners. Its difficulty was an excessive loss through the slow-speed sections, preventing that advantage from translating into the fastest overall pace.
Max Verstappen also faced a significant straight-line weakness. Red Bull lost close to half a second to Ferrari on the Hungaroring’s short straights, leaving the team with a difficult balance to resolve before qualifying.
The challenge for Red Bull is to reduce that straight-line deficit without sacrificing its estimated 0.25-second advantage over Ferrari through the medium-speed corners. Any compromise that weakens its greatest strength could make closing the overall gap even more difficult.
McLaren, meanwhile, will hope the smaller deficits shown by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri through the slow- and medium-speed sections continue into qualifying, particularly in comparison with Mercedes and Red Bull. The three teams appeared likely to be involved in the fight for third behind Ferrari on the evidence available after Friday.
McLaren’s interrupted programme means qualifying will provide a cleaner measure of its ultimate performance. Nevertheless, the practice analysis offered a clear explanation for Ferrari’s advantage: the SF-26 gained most of its time in the Hungaroring’s slow and medium-speed corners, while the areas favouring the MCL40 delivered far smaller rewards.
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