Norris heads McLaren front row lockout ahead of Verstappen as Perez crashes · RaceFans

Lando Norris secured pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix in an all-McLaren front row as Oscar Piastri took second.

In a session affected by light rain, Norris beat his team mate by just 0.022 seconds to take pole, while Max Verstappen was less than half a tenth behind the two McLarens in third.

However, Red Bull’s frustrations at missing pole were compounded by Sergio Perez crashing out of Q1, leaving him well down the order for Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

Q1

Rain between the end of the final practice and the start of Q1 left the circuit damp when qualifying began. Nonetheless all 20 drivers headed out on soft dry tyres once the pit lane opened.

Although spots of rain were still falling over the circuit, drivers managed to improve their times with every consecutive lap. Logan Sargeant jumped into the top ten in his Williams, but a heavy lock up into turn one moments later saw him sliding into the barrier, with which he made gentle contact. Luckily for Williams, Sargeant recovered out of the barrier and was able to resume.

Lewis Hamilton took the top time off him, with Carlos Sainz Jnr in second and Max Verstappen in third. Sainz’s race engineer warned him the rain was increasing in intensity, meaning it may prove difficult for drivers to improve their times over the final seven minutes of the session.

However, qualifying was suddenly halted by a red flag when Sergio Perez lost control of his Red Bull through turn eight and slammed into the barrier, wrecking his car. He was able to climb out of the car unaided, but his qualifying was over.

After a delay of 11 minutes, the session resumed with just under seven minutes on the clock. However, the light rain that had continued to fall during the delay made the prospect of improving a difficult one. As time ticked down, Daniel Ricciardo looked set to be the unlucky driver eliminated in 16th, with Lance Stroll sitting in 17th. Kevin Magnussen was also set to be eliminated in 18th, ahead of Zhou Guanyu and Nico Hulkenberg in 20th.

The majority of the field returned to the track in the final minutes, with many finding time in the last moments. George Russell had improved his time after heading out once the session resumed, but had been forced to pit before the end of the session due to a lack of fuel in his car to remain out. As the Mercedes driver pitted, his rivals continued to improve out on track.

When the chequered flag flew, Russell dropped down into 17th and was out – the second consecutive season that he was eliminated in Q1 in Hungary. He joined Perez in falling out of qualifying, with Zhou and the two Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly the final drivers to be knocked out at the first hurdle after the team opted not to send either driver out after the session resumed.

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Q1 result

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Q2

Sainz was the first driver to join the track as the second phase of qualifying began. The Hungaroring was still drying out as he left the pits on a used set of tyres. He immediately posted a 1’17.028, indicating just how much the track was now improving.

Verstappen took fresh softs for his first outing of the session, posting the fastest time of the weekend by far with a 1’15.770. Oscar Piastri almost matched the championship leader’s time to put his McLaren in second, while Sainz went back out on fresh tyres to go third fastest, a tenth slower than Verstappen.

Hamilton used old softs to put his Mercedes into eighth, but the time did not look safe enough to secure him a place in Q3. As the field returned to the garage to repair for the final minutes, Yuki Tsunoda was the final car safe in tenth, ahead of Valtteri Bottas, the two Williams of Alexander Albon and Sargeant, Hulkenberg and Ricciardo who were sat in the drop zone as the minutes ticked down.

The Williams pair were the first over the line to start their final laps. Albon improved to go ninth, with Sargeant moving into tenth. Ricciardo also improved into the top ten, knocking Sargeant out, while team mate Tsunoda gained time with his final effort to doom Albon too.

Hamilton appeared to be in danger of elimination as he slid down into tenth place, but despite both Hulkenberg and Bottas improving with their last efforts, neither could best Hamilton’s time, meaning he kept his place in the top ten by a hundredth of a second.

That meant Hulkenberg was knocked out in 11th ahead of Bottas and the two Williams of Albon and Sargeant. Magnussen was the final driver eliminated in 15th, two tenths slower than his team mate.

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Q2 result

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Q3

The final stage of qualifying began with a renewed threat of rain in the air, but with plenty of time for drivers to get an initial push lap in before any rain was likely to arrive.

Verstappen was released first onto the circuit, encouraged by race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to make his clear track ahead of him count. He responded with a 1’15.555, three tenths faster than the first attempts of Piastri, Leclerc and Hamilton.

Norris was the last of the pole contenders over the line to complete his first flying lap. He stormed into provisional pole position with a time over three tenths quicker than Verstappen to give him the advantage as the rain began to loom overhead.

With the threat of rain, teams cycled their cars back out onto the circuit with haste, with only Leclerc, Norris and Lance Stroll remaining in the garage until the final four minutes. Piastri was the first over the line and he improved to jump up to second. Verstappen also improved, but not by enough to beat the McLarens.

As Norris started his final attempt, seemingly with pole already secured, the red flag was flown for a second time for Tsunoda having crashed on the approach to the chicane. The RB driver ran wide at turn five, hit the strip of grass installed at the exit and had been launched into the barrier, causing major damage to his car.

With the session stopped with just over two minutes remaining, there was still time for drivers to head out for a final attempt – albeit on used tyres. Red Bull opted not to send out Verstappen, while most of their rivals did.

The McLarens led the field out of the pit lane when the green light appeared as the timer ticked down. However, as Norris had predicted under the red flag, no one was able to find sustained improvement over their final laps and Norris was secured as the pole winner when the chequered flag flew.

He will lead an all-McLaren front row for Sunday’s race – McLaren’s first since 2012 – ahead of Piastri with Verstappen having to settle for third. Sainz took fourth ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc, with the two Aston Martins of Alonso and Stroll in seventh and eighth. The two RBs of Ricciardo and Tsunoda completed the top ten.

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Q3 result