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Motorsport

Filip Cleeren

F1 Hungarian GP: Lando Norris pips Lewis Hamilton to nail biting pole position

Lewis Hamilton Lando Norris F1 Charles Leclerc Isack Hadjar Max Verstappen Mercedes Aston Martin (Person) Kimi Antonelli McLaren

Reigning world champion Lando Norris claimed his first pole of the 2026 season at the Hungarian Grand Prix, beating Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes suffered its first Formula 1 grand prix qualifying loss of the year.

Norris romped to a 1m17.207s lap in the final moments of qualifying to overcome Hamilton and take his first pole since last year's Las Vegas Grand Prix.

As track temperatures approached 50C, the challenge was to keep the tyres alive until the end of the lap, especially for the Hungaroring's twisty, yet slippery, final sector.

Heading into the decisive Q3 shootout, all the frontrunners had kept at least two fresh sets of Pirelli's softest C5 tyres for the occasion, with Hamilton leading Norris and Charles Leclerc after the first of two runs. Hamilton set a 1m17.219s to dip a tenth below Norris' time, the McLaren man losing time with a huge slide out of the final corner, with Leclerc another tenth in arrears.

Mercedes was conspicuous in its absence as the erstwhile dominant team appeared to struggle for balance across both cars on the bumpy and windy Hungaroring. Kimi Antonelli was fourth after the first set of runs ahead of Oscar Piastri, with George Russell split by the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar. But neither team appeared to be a threat to either Ferrari or McLaren.

The decisive Q3 run confirmed as much, and the tricky conditions made it tough for anyone to find additional gains. Neither Hamilton or Leclerc did, but Norris went purple in sector two and then executed a much cleaner final sector to pip Hamilton by 0.012s. It was enough for a first grand prix pole for Norris as the reigning world champion, with the Briton having also taken a sprint pole in Miami.

Hamilton and Leclerc had to settle for second and third respectively, although Hamilton is set to face the stewards for impeding Piastri and is likely to be penalised. Championship leader Antonelli did improve on his final flyer, but could only manage fourth, catching yellows in the final corner for a spin by Verstappen. The stewards will also investigate if the Italian lifted sufficiently for the yellow flag.

In the second McLaren, Piastri had been on the back foot all weekend compared to Norris and was fifth, having to abort his final lap due to Hamilton's alleged impeding in Turn 1, while Verstappen could only manage sixth as a result of his spin on his second run.

Russell also caught yellows as Verstappen returned to the circuit, but had not been on a better second lap anyway. Hadjar was eighth, with midfielders Arvid Lindblad and Nico Hulkenberg impressing to take ninth and 10th respectively.

Isack Hadjar spun his Red Bull Racing in Q2 (Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images)

In the second session, Hadjar spun his Red Bull in Turn 12 on his first lap as Hamilton initially claimed the top of the Q2 timesheets with a 1m17.931s. The Briton enjoyed a 0.247s gap to Antonelli, who complained of a complete lack of grip, suggesting Mercedes was "doing something wrong with tyres".

Norris ended up quickest with a 1m17.456s from Leclerc and Hamilton, while Hadjar recovered from his spin to go fourth quickest as all the other frontrunners also comfortably advanced to Q3.

Fernando Alonso was the surprise package of Q2 as he and Aston Martin finally broke into the second qualifying sessions thanks to the all-new AMR26 for Hungary

Alonso set his Q2 laps earlier than the rest of the pack to avoid the traffic, but 16th was the best the two-time world champion could muster.

Of the midfield runners, Lindblad impressed in seventh and Hulkenberg snagged the final Q3 spot in 10th. That dumped out the second Racing Bulls car of Liam Lawson, who complained of an undriveable car.

Alpine duo Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto was also eliminated, as was Gabriel Bortoleto and Haas man Esteban Ocon, although the latter did snap a streak of defeats against his team-mate Oliver Bearman.

Esteban Ocon outqualified his Haas team-mate (Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images)

Norris took the early lead in Q1 with a 1m18.277s on softs ahead of Verstappen and Antonelli. Ferrari had enough confidence to try and advance on mediums, with Hamilton's 1m18.730s lap good for fourth.

At the rear of the field all eyes were on Aston Martin and its much-vaunted B-spec, and whether or not the Silverstone squad's mid-season revamp would be enough to escape the rear of the grid. Following encouraging signs in free practice, Alonso confirmed Aston has worked itself into F1's midfield, squeezing through at the expense of Haas' Bearman, who rued a "horrible" car balance.

Aston's leap forward also lifted it over fellow struggler Williams, aided by the Hungaroring not being a power sensitive circuit where Honda's deficit compared to the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari are masked. But Williams was also particularly poor in its own right, with Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon 18th and 19th as the latter was baffled by the constantly changing balance on the FW48.

Behind Lance Stroll in 20th, newcomer Cadillac was the slowest team on the grid with Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez departing from the back row on Sunday.