Norris denies Hamilton record Hungarian GP pole in dramatic qualifying

Lando Norris came from behind to beat Lewis Hamilton to pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix, ending the Ferrari driver’s hopes of a record 10th pole at the Hungaroring.

Norris beat Hamilton by 0.012s with Charles Leclerc while an issue on his final flying lap left George Russell stranded on the side of the track.

Fernando Alonso advances to Q2 as Stroll exits in Q1

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On a scorching-hot afternoon in Budapest, Aston Martin’s B-spec AMR26 was one of the first cars out to do its maiden qualifying lap in the hands of Lance Stroll. Fernando Alonso joined his teammate on the track, along with the Williams drivers and Cadillacs.

Alonso clocked a 1:20.6 to lead the way as the three teams’ drivers completed their laps, two-tenths up on Albon while Carlos Sainz lost his first lap due to track limits.

As the top teams joined the action, Lewis Hamilton went quickest, Charles Leclerc had his lap time deleted, Max Verstappen took over at the front and then Lando Norris. He lowered the benchmark time to a 1:18.277.

All the drivers bar the Ferraris were on the soft Pirelli tyres. Leclerc set the seventh fastest time on his second flying lap, but began to drop down the order. He was ninth when all the drivers had completed at least one run, but he was 1.3s ahead of Stroll in 17th place.

Gabriel Bortoleto was down in 22nd place and without a time on the board after he lost his lap time for exceeding the track limits at Turn 4. Pierre Gasly suffered the same fate, and then slotted into 15th place.

Norris remained in the pits, although Verstappen and Antonelli both went out for a run on used tyres. Antonelli leapfrogged Verstappen but was still 0.277s behind Norris.

At the back, Sainz made it out of the bottom six, but only just. Oliver Bearman then improved, which booted Sainz out of qualifying. Gasly moving up to 13th meant Bearman was also knocked out.

Alonso made it through to Q2 in 16th place. “Let’s go. Maybe there will be more to come in the next session,” he said.

Eliminated: Oliver Bearman, Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon, Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.

Norris fastest as Alonso and Lawson suffer Q2 exits

Verstappen was the first driver to clock a time in Q2, a 1:18.2 for the four-time world champion.

But in a tale of two Red Bull drivers, his teammate Isack Hadjar clipped the gravel and spun at Turn 11. “Come on, someone is always the **** same,” bemoaned Hadjar.

That brought out the yellow flags, with Russell having to back off. Leclerc, though, was noted for a potential yellow flag infringement. Race Control ruled no further investigation.

Hamilton hit the front with a 1:17.9, with Antonelli up to second despite complaining about “zero grip”, and Verstappen down to third. Alonso was an impressive P10, but neither Hadjar nor Bortoleto had set a time.

Hadjar briefly replaced Hamilton in P1, dropping Alonso to 11th with Bortoleto then relegating him to 12th as the Audi driver went 11th.

With everyone out for a final flying lap, Arvid Lindblad improved to seventh and bumped his teammate Liam Lawson out of qualifying. Norris returned to P1, with Leclerc second ahead of Hamilton.

Eliminated: Liam Lawson, Pierre Gasly, Franco Colapinto, Gabriel Bortoleto, Esteban Ocon, Fernando Alonso.

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Norris edges Hamilton in thrilling Hungary pole shootout

Verstappen led out the top ten for the pole position shoot-out, and posted a 1:17.7 to get the timesheets rolling.

Piastri took P1 off the Red Bull driver, with Norris the next driver to go fastest. Hamilton went even faster with a 1:17.2.

Leclerc was third ahead of Antonelli, Piastri and Verstappen. Russell, Hadjar, Lindblad and Hulkenberg made up the provisional top ten.

Hamilton and Leclerc were the first two drivers out for a second run, followed by Verstappen. Norris and Piastri were the last two out.

Hamilton, whose last Grand Prix pole position was at the 2023 Hungarian GP, did not improve on his first sector. Neither did Verstappen, nor Verstappen. That trend continued with Hamilton 1.6s down on his provisional pole position.

Behind them, Norris and Antonelli were improving, Norris taking pole position off Hamilton with a 1:17.2. Verstappen spun but got going again, although his lap ruined.

Double yellow! Russell, down in seventh place, came to a halt on the side of the track.

Norris secured pole position with his 1:17.2, putting him 0.012s ahead of Hamilton. Leclerc will line up third on the grid.

Hungarian Grand Prix: Qualifying

1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:17.207
2 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:17.219
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:17.445
4 Kimi Antonelli McLaren 1:17.479
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:17.684
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:17.725
7 George Russell Mercedes 1:17.760
8 Isack Hadjar Red Bull 1:17.856
9 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls 1:18.281
10 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:18.686

11 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine
13 Franco Colapinto Alpine
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi
15 Esteban Ocon Haas
16 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin

17 Oliver Bearman Haas
18 Carlos Sainz Williams
19 Alex Albon Williams
20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin
21 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac
22 Sergio Perez Cadillac

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