Lando Norris of McLaren secured his first pole position of the season at the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest, narrowly beating Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton by 0.012 seconds. The dramatic finale to qualifying saw Norris clinch pole with his final lap.
Hamilton had initially set the fastest time on the first runs, holding a lead of just over 0.1 seconds over Norris. However, neither the seven-time champion nor his team-mate Charles Leclerc could improve their times on their subsequent attempts. Norris, conversely, found the necessary improvement to claim the top spot.
Qualifying Session Highlights
The end of the qualifying session was marked by a chaotic incident involving Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who spun at the final corner. This error impacted Mercedes drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, forcing them to slow down. As a result, Antonelli finished fourth, and Russell ended up in seventh position.
Despite the spin, Verstappen managed to get his car moving again before Norris completed his final lap, which ultimately secured pole for the upgraded McLaren. Hamilton‘s second run was notably slower than his first, and he now faces a potential investigation for impeding McLaren’s Oscar Piastri at Turn One after completing his final lap.
Verstappen ultimately qualified in sixth place, ahead of Russell and the second Red Bull driver, Isack Hadjar. Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad and Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg also featured in the top ten.
Team Performances and Driver Reactions
Charles Leclerc, who will start third on the grid, expressed some disappointment with his performance. He noted that changes in wind conditions affected his car setup. Leclerc stated, “Today there was quite a bit of a wind change and I don’t think I did a great job anticipating it with the car set-up.” He also mentioned that qualifying had been “quite messy” and that the team was “a little bit unlucky in Q2 with yellow flag in the final sector.”
A significant breakthrough was achieved by Aston Martin, with Fernando Alonso progressing out of the first session for the first time this season. This occurred on a weekend where the team debuted a virtually new car. Alonso will start 16th, 2.8 seconds off pole, but this represents a two-second improvement in relative pace compared to recent performances.
Alonso, who will be 45 next week, conveyed a sense of relief and optimism regarding the team’s understanding of the car’s weaknesses. He highlighted that previous updates earlier in the season had not yielded much success. “We brought a few updates to this car early in the season, and it didn’t work much. And we come from two years of disappointments of upgrades,” Alonso explained. He added that there is a “change in optimism in the factory” and that he feels “optimistic.”
The veteran Spanish driver faces a decision this summer about continuing his career beyond the current season. He expressed confidence in technical partner Adrian Newey‘s ability to lead the team to future success but questioned whether it would happen quickly enough for him. Alonso stated, “No one should doubt Adrian Newey or the potential we have in Silverstone. It is a matter of time before we have the best chassis and it is a matter of time before Honda have the best engine in F1. It is a question of when.”
Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri, Norris’s team-mate, secured fifth place. Kimi Antonelli, who leads Hamilton by 45 points in the Drivers’ Championship, finished fourth behind Leclerc. Both Hamilton and Antonelli are at risk of grid penalties pending post-session investigations; Hamilton for potentially impeding Piastri, and Antonelli for possibly not slowing sufficiently near yellow flags following Verstappen‘s spin.
The Hungarian Grand Prix race is scheduled for Sunday at 2pm, with build-up beginning at 12:30pm.
Source: bbc.com
George Hartwell is the Senior Football Correspondent at News-GB.org, covering the Premier League, the EFL and the England national side with twelve years of reporting experience. He reported on West Country football before national coverage. He holds a degree in Sports Journalism from the University of the West of England and completed an NCTJ diploma. Based in Bristol, he watches grassroots football and writes a tactics column. “Tactics tell you more than any scoreline.”