Lando Norris took the lead in Practice 3 ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri, with McLaren setting a blistering pace as they look set to take pole position for Saturday's Hungarian Grand Prix.
Norris and Piastri set an impressive time on the twisting Hungaroring's MCL38 by just 0.044 seconds, with the Briton posting a best lap time of 1:16.098, making him the narrowly quicker of the two.
“It was a wonder to behold!” he said. Sky Sports F1 Nico Rosberg watched as Norris climbed into the car and set the fastest lap time.
“It was perfect for the driver and the car. It was magical, unbelievable.”
Max Verstappen was McLaren's closest challenger in third, but the gap to the Red Bull driver's lead was 0.281s after one of F1's shortest laps.
“It’s absolutely, it’s on rails,” Rosberg added of the McLaren’s speed. “That car looks absolutely dominant today.”
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There was a hilarious scene where George Russell interrupted Toto Wolff's Sky Sports interview by throwing nuts at the Mercedes team boss.
Verstappen and team-mate Sergio Perez were 13th fastest, having wasted most of the session due to timing issues with their main rivals as they used harder tyres in preparation for Sunday's race.
When he eventually switched to the soft tyres in the final stages, Verstappen seemed particularly unhappy with the handling of the RB20, which he demonstrated during his fastest lap.
Despite looking set to continue his pursuit of a better set-up in order to get another lap on the soft tyres, the world champion ended the session by going off the track after a massive stop at Turn 1.
The single-lap gap over the flying McLaren was even bigger for Mercedes and Ferrari, who had won the last two grands prix and claimed their fourth consecutive pole position in Hungary.
George Russell was the Mercedes leader in fourth, 0.466 seconds behind Norris, while Carlos Sainz was the fastest Ferrari again, ten seconds behind him in fifth.
However, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc had it harder in their own cars, with Hamilton only finishing 10th fastest on soft tyres and spinning at Turn 11 in the final stages of the session.
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Lewis Hamilton appeared to be struggling driving his Mercedes after a huge spin that left him in P3 at the Hungarian GP.
Leclerc, who missed most of Friday's second practice session after crashing at Turn 4, returned to the track to finish 11th, 0.7 seconds behind.
While Hamilton and Leclerc remain in the top ten, some of the middle runners on the grid are showing potential ahead of qualifying, suggesting there could be a shock in the battle for the final Q3 spot.
Daniel Ricciardo continued his strong start to the weekend with an impressive sixth place, while teammate Yuki Tsunoda also completed the top ten with ninth place, highlighting the competitiveness of the RB team so far.
Williams' Alex Albon and Haas' Nico Hulkenberg were seventh and eighth respectively, with neither Aston Martin finishing outside the top 10 despite another update to the AMR24 this weekend.
Like Red Bulls, Aston Martin also ran most of the session on hard tyres, with Fernando Alonso, who was 14th, eventually being forced to switch to soft tyres after Hamilton's spin.
Live Hungarian GP schedule on Sky Sports F1
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Sky F1's Anthony Davidson takes a look at the iconic Hungaroring track ahead of this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.
Saturday July 20th
2:15pm: Hungarian GP qualifying preparation
3pm: Hungarian GP Qualifying
5pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook
Sunday July 21st
7:20am: F3 Feature Race
9am: F2 Feature Race
11am: Porsche Supercup
12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday – Hungarian GP Preparation
2pm: Hungarian Grand Prix
4pm: Checked Flag: Hungarian GP Reaction
5pm: Ted's Laptop
The next race in F1 is the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest on July 19-21. Watch every session live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month membership – no contract, cancel anytime
