Norris snatches Hungarian GP pole from Hamilton by 0.012s, penalties drop both Hamilton and Antonelli down the grid

Norris breaks the Mercedes pole streak

Lando Norris finally brought Mercedes’ run of pole positions to an end in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The reigning world champion set a 1:17.207 on his final Q3 lap, just 0.012 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari. Before qualifying, Norris had topped the third free practice session with a 1:17.939, and he carried that pace through Q1 and Q2 as well. The McLaren driver admitted afterwards that it had been a tough session and praised the team’s recent upgrades.

I’m very happy to be back on top. It was a tough session and the Ferrari guys were very fast. It’s been difficult all weekend but our updates helped — it’s great to be on pole, especially on this track.

Hamilton’s near-miss and the Piastri blocking incident

Lewis Hamilton had provisionally held pole with a 1:17.219 on his first Q3 run and looked set for what would have been a record-extending pole on a single circuit. The seven-time champion later said that leaving the garage first in the final runs was not the right call and that grip had disappeared. However, his biggest trouble came from an incident at turn 1, where he was adjudged to have impeded Oscar Piastri while the McLaren was on a flying lap. The stewards handed Hamilton a three-place grid penalty for impeding, dropping him from second to fifth.

We were the quickest for the whole session, so it’s definitely a missed opportunity. We went out first and I don’t think that was the right choice — then for some reason the grip wasn’t there. The pole slipped out of my hands.

Antonelli penalised under yellow flags

Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli had qualified fourth, but the championship leader received his own three-place grid drop. During the closing minutes of Q3, Max Verstappen spun at the final corner, triggering yellow flags. The stewards found that Antonelli had not slowed sufficiently in that sector, and he was demoted to seventh on the grid, alongside Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull.

Grid reorder and Leclerc’s gain

The penalties transformed the starting order. Charles Leclerc, who had qualified third with a gap of 0.238 seconds to Norris, was promoted to the front row. Piastri advanced to third, and Verstappen moved up to fourth despite the spin that ended his own session. Hamilton will start fifth, with George Russell’s Mercedes sixth after stopping on track with a power unit issue at the end of Q3. The session was run in extreme heat with track temperatures reaching 52°C, and a sudden wind shift made the final runs especially difficult.

There was a pretty sharp wind change and I don’t think I anticipated it well. The qualy was a bit chaotic, and I had to recover ground. We were lucky with the yellow flag.

What comes next

The Hungarian Grand Prix gets underway on Sunday, 26 July, at 15:00 local time. With Norris on pole and both front-running Mercedes penalised, the race is set to be wide open from the start.