Lando Norris surprises and guarantees ‘pole position’ in the Hungarian GP

O champion in title completed his best return to the Hungaroring circuit in 1.17.207 minutes, beating the British Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) for 0.012 seconds, while Monegasque Charles Leclerc, in the other Ferrari, finished third, at 0.238 seconds from the fastest.

The Italian Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), the current leader of the World Cup, was fourth, 0.272 seconds, followed by the Australian Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and the Dutch Max Verstappen (Red Bull), fifth and sixth, respectively.

However, these places underwent a change with the penalty of Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) after interfering with a quick turn of Oscar Piastri. That is why the British pilot will have three places of penalty, so he will leave fifth. This means that Piastri rises to fourth place, while Leclerc and Antonelli complete the podium. 

The session was marked by an intense struggle between McLaren and Ferrari, with Hamilton temporarily taking over the ‘pole’ after the first attempts of Q3, but the news is that Mercedes, who dominated the championship until this time, had no pace to accompany the two fastest teams.

Norris also managed to improve on the last lap, at a time when two yellow flags, caused by a Verstappen pin and the problems of George Russell (Mercedes), conditioned the last attacks of some of the opponents.

The result gave the world champion the first pole position of the season, and also McLaren's first in 2026, after the British team presented several single-place updates for the Hungarian race.

“ I am very, very happy to be back on top,” said Norris, acknowledging that he was “pleasantly surprised” to be able to beat both Ferraris, especially because he considered that his Q3 laps “were not the best”.

The British pilot also highlighted the competitiveness demonstrated by Hamilton and Leclerc throughout the weekend and considered that the improvements made to McLaren had an influence on performance.

“ We've been looking fast since the first laps. We brought some updates and it is difficult to know how much they represent in time around, but they certainly helped today”, he explained.

Norris, who had already been the fastest in the third session of free training, revealed to have felt confidence throughout the day, despite admitting that he had to risk more in the last attempt.

“I pushed a little harder on the last lap. Some things worked, others didn't, but the most important thing is that we got it in the end ", he added.

George Russell finished his seventh session in front of French Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls), British Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) and German Nico Hülkenberg (Audi), who completed the first 10.

Another novelty was Fernando Alonso's 16th place (Aston Martin), which, for the first time this season, passed from the first phase of the qualification (it became Q2, but it was already a breakthrough), after Aston Martin presented 16 aerodynamic developments and the ‘chassis’ in this Hungarian race. His teammate, Lance Stroll, took the 20th place, but in front of the two Cadillac, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez.

The Hungarian Grand Prix, 13th Formula 1 World Championship race, is held on Sunday at the Hungaroring circuit, starting at 15:00 locals (14:00 in Lisbon).