Updates from McLaren also work in Hungary to everyone's surprise

Since McLaren's updates in Austria, the team has been making great strides. In Austria and certainly in Britain, the Woking-based team was extremely competitive. Prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix, expectations were tempered, even by those within the team, but it turns out that was not at all necessary.

Norris is fast on the Hungaroring

Norris was second in the timesheet on Friday, so he also has a fast car at the tight Hungaroring. That the MCL60 is fast in fast corners is well known, now the car also appears fast on a slower track.

"It’s been a good Friday. I'm relatively happy with the overall pace of the car but there are some things to work on ahead of quali. I feel like I’m not able to push quite as much as I would like in a few places on the track, so I think we’ve got a little bit more to unlock,'' Norris revealed after Friday's race in Hungary.

''We’ve started off with a decent balance. I would say our improved pace since the upgrade has continued to help us and give the team confidence in some of the high-speed corners – but the slow-speed corners are still the ones we’re trying to focus on and improve,'' the McLaren driver concluded.

Norris particularly impressed with his long run space, in which he was the fastest of the drivers on the medium tyre. Fernando Alonso's run was a bit more consistent, but the Briton's was just a bit faster. Whether it will be the same in Sunday's race remains to be seen.