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By Ishaan Kapoor — 25 July 2026 — 4 min read

Lando Norris secured pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix, delivering a late effort to surpass Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Norris achieved this with his upgraded McLaren, navigating a chaotic end to the qualifying session at the Hungaroring.

In the final moments of Q3, Norris recorded a lap time of 1m 17.207s. His timing was crucial, allowing him to avoid two late yellow flags. These flags were triggered by a spin from Max Verstappen and a stranded George Russell.

Qualifying Session Highlights

Hamilton was unable to improve his time on his last lap, finishing in second place ahead of Leclerc. Kimi Antonelli secured fourth position, marking a challenging session for Mercedes. Russell, who was instructed by his team to stop, qualified in seventh place, behind Oscar Piastri and Verstappen. Both Red Bull drivers experienced spins during the final segment of qualifying.

Isack Hadjar claimed eighth place, with Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad and Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg completing the top 10 qualifiers. Liam Lawson narrowly missed advancing to the final part of qualifying by 0.126 seconds and will start the Hungarian Grand Prix from 11th position. He will be ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto. Gabriel Bortoleto finished in 14th for Audi, ahead of Esteban Ocon and an improved Fernando Alonso.

Ollie Bearman was out-qualified by his Haas teammate, finishing 17th and missing a spot in Q2 by just over a tenth of a second. He was joined in elimination by the Williams duo of Carlos Sainz in 18th and Alex Albon in 19th. Both drivers expressed dissatisfaction with their car after the session. While Alonso benefited from his updated Aston Martin, his teammate Lance Stroll qualified 20th, ahead of Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.

Q1 and Q2 Developments

The qualifying hour followed three hours of practice sessions that included lock-ups, wide turns, and evaluations of upgrades. The Hungaroring circuit is known for its limited overtaking opportunities, emphasising the importance of a strong grid position.

In Q1, drivers accustomed to early exits, such as Bottas, Sainz, and Albon, were among the first on track. Alonso initially set a benchmark of 1m 20.685s on soft tyres. However, Hamilton quickly surpassed this with a time in the 1m 18s range on medium compound tyres. Verstappen then took the lead with a margin of 0.074s, with Hadjar in third. Antonelli briefly moved into second before Norris completed a lap that put him over three tenths clear at the top. Drivers eliminated in Q1 included Bearman, Sainz, Albon, Stroll, Bottas, and Perez.

Q2 saw Alonso eager to demonstrate the capabilities of Aston Martin’s new package. Verstappen set an early standard of 1m 18.249s, but a yellow flag was brought out by his teammate Hadjar’s spin. Hamilton then set the fastest lap of the weekend at 1m 17.931s, despite reporting that he could still improve. Antonelli faced pressure after his time was deleted and complained about tyre grip. Hadjar then took the top spot, and Antonelli improved to sixth. Leclerc also moved out of the drop zone, while Norris reclaimed first place. Drivers knocked out in Q2 were Lawson, Gasly, Colapinto, Bortoleto, Ocon, and Alonso.

Final Q3 Battle and Post-Qualifying Investigations

Q3 began gradually, with many drivers waiting to capitalise on track evolution. Verstappen set an initial lap of 1m 17.725s. Norris then surpassed this, but an error allowed Hamilton to take the lead by just over a tenth. After the first runs, Hamilton remained the driver to beat, ahead of Norris, Leclerc, and Antonelli. Russell was half a second behind in seventh, indicating a lack of pace for Mercedes in the fight for pole.

Hamilton and Norris employed different strategies for their final attempts. Hamilton was the first on track for his last run, while Norris was the last to cross the finish line. Hamilton could not improve his time, which opened the door for Norris to secure pole position with his impressive 1m 17.207s lap. He successfully avoided two yellow flags, one caused by Verstappen’s spin and another when Russell was instructed to stop at Turn 1, leaving him in seventh place.

Following qualifying, an investigation is pending regarding an incident where Hamilton may have impeded Piastri, potentially leading to a grid penalty for the British driver. Piastri stated that he saw Hamilton from the start line and expected him to move out of the way, describing the incident as “pretty bad.” Hamilton’s race engineer suggested he was caught off guard by Piastri’s push lap coinciding with the yellow flag for Verstappen’s spin. Antonelli is also under investigation for a possible yellow-flag infringement. Hadjar qualified eighth, ahead of Lindblad and Hulkenberg. The 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix is scheduled to start at 1500 local time on Sunday.

Source: formula1.com