Lando Norris’ last-lap heroics were enough to yield pole position for this year’s Hungarian Grand Prix. A surprising result given the searing pace Ferrari has had all weekend. The Scuderia were the team to beat for the majority of free practice, and it was Lewis Hamilton who set the pace in qualifying. The seven-time world champion went quickest during the opening stages of Q3, and while he couldn’t improve on his initial run, neither could any of the frontrunners. Hamilton looked set for a record tenth pole at the Hungaroring before Norris put in a blinding final lap to snatch his first pole of the season by just 0.012s.
Hamilton had to briefly settle for second before later receiving a three-place grid penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri. Charles Leclerc underlined Ferrari’s pace by setting the third fastest time; he will start tomorrow’s race on the front row. Kimi Antonelli suffered a scare in Q2, where he had a lap time deleted for violating track limits. The championship leader was in the drop zone with less than a minute to go but managed to save himself at the last. He went on to qualify fourth, one place ahead of Piastri. However, Antonelli was later deemed to have not slowed down sufficiently under yellow flag conditions and was handed a three-place grid penalty that dropped him to seventh. Piastri will therefore start tomorrow’s race from third.
Max Verstappen struggled with balance throughout qualifying but looked set for a competitive time at the very end of Q3. However, the four-time world champion spun off at the final corner, which relegated him to sixth. Verstappen will start fourth thanks to the penalties of those ahead of him, but that will be scant consolation after a frustrating session.
George Russell’s run of torrid luck is showing no signs of easing up. The Mercedes driver struggled with instability in Q3 and could only go seventh fastest before coasting to a halt at the very end of the session thanks to a drop in water pressure. He will start seventh, one place ahead of Isack Hadjar, who suffered a major spin in Q2 but managed to progress.
Arvid Lindblad capitalised on RB’s continued form with P9, his seventh Q3 appearance of the season, while Nico Hulkenberg snuck into Q3 and secured tenth. Having finished P11 twice this season, the Audi driver will be hoping to end his points drought here. Having been put on level terms with his teammate upgrade-wise, Liam Lawson will be disappointed to have missed out on Q3 in 11th. Alpine also failed to crack the top ten; Pierre Gasly will line up 12th just ahead of his teammate Franco Colapinto.
Gabriel Bortoleto was unable to match the pace of his teammate and ended the session 14th, just ahead of Esteban Ocon. After bringing no fewer than 16 upgrades to Hungary, Aston Martin was finally given something to smile about as Fernando Alonso bagged both his and the team’s first Q2 appearance of the season and qualified 16th ahead of Ollie Bearman and compatriot Carlos Sainz. Alex Albon lost out to his teammate in qualifying for the fifth weekend in a row, and Lance Stroll qualified 20th for his 200th grand prix start. Valtteri Bottas was the faster of the two Cadillacs, setting a time half a second quicker than his teammate Sergio Perez.
Chaos and controversy reigned supreme at the end of qualifying in Hungary. Lando Norris is perfectly placed to secure a first victory of 2026. However, with the championship contenders scattered across the top ten and passing in Hungary notoriously difficult, tomorrow’s race looks set to be an intriguing one.
