Lando Norris of McLaren managed to edge out Lewis Hamilton to secure pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix, while Hamilton was later relegated from second place on the grid after receiving a penalty for impeding a rival. The qualifying session unfolded with Hamilton appearing poised to claim his first pole at this venue in three years, having posted a time just a tenth of a second faster than Norris in the early part of Q3. However, Norris found an extra fraction of a second on his final lap, improving just enough to beat Hamilton by a razor‑thin margin of 0.012 seconds.
In the end, Norris’s pole was guaranteed regardless of Hamilton’s subsequent penalty, because the British driver was later demoted from second to fifth after the stewards ruled that he had blocked Oscar Piastri during the final qualifying stint. As a result, the front row will be occupied by Norris alongside Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, while Hamilton will have to fight his way up from fifth. Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, who currently leads the Drivers’ Championship by 45 points over Hamilton, originally qualified fourth but will start from seventh. He received a three‑place grid drop for failing to reduce speed adequately under yellow‑flag conditions that were deployed after Max Verstappen’s spin on his last flying lap.
Verstappen’s off‑track excursion triggered the yellow flags that Antonelli ignored, costing him the additional penalty. Piastri benefited from Hamilton’s infraction and moved up to third on the grid.
Verstappen, despite the spin that caused the yellow‑flag situation, recovered two places to line up fourth. George Russell, who has struggled for pace all weekend and qualified only seventh, will start ahead of his teammate Mercedes driver in sixth. Russell’s power‑unit failed at the end of the qualifying session, but the team is allowed to replace the engine for the race without imposing a penalty on the British driver.
The McLaren upgrade package introduced at the Hungarian weekend appears to have paid dividends. Norris, now on his 17th career pole, claimed his first since the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November 2025.
He praised the team’s development work, saying, “It’s been a tough qualifying session. Ferrari were very quick, and the whole weekend has been tight, but the upgrades we brought seemed to help.
I’m very happy to be back on top, especially at a circuit where you really want to start from pole.” Other notable performances included Racing Bulls’ rookie Arvid Lindblad, who continued his impressive form by finishing ninth, and Nico Hülkenberg, who completed the top ten for Audi. Fernando Alonso also gave Aston Martin a morale boost by advancing the team into Q2 for the first time this season, although he will start 16th after finishing last in that session. His showing suggests that the heavily upgraded Aston Martin car is beginning to find its rhythm ahead of the upcoming Dutch Grand Prix, where Honda plans to roll out a major power‑unit upgrade. The final qualifying order, after all penalties were applied, is as follows: 1.
Lando Norris (McLaren) 2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 3.
Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 4. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 5.
Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)* 6. George Russell (Mercedes) 7. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)* 8. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) 9.
Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) 10. Nico Hülkenberg (Audi) *Both Hamilton and Antonelli received three‑place grid drops.
Hamilton’s resurgence with Ferrari this season has been impressive, highlighted by his first Ferrari Grand Prix win in Barcelona and a sprint‑race pole at Silverstone. Yet the Hungarian pole has eluded him, and the penalty now forces him to start from the middle of the pack. He admitted after the session that his final lap was “the worst lap of all” and that the car had the potential to be on pole, making the outcome “tough to swallow.” The penalty stemmed from an incident where Hamilton, unaware that Piastri was about to start his flying lap, lingered in the first corner, effectively blocking the Australian driver.
Hamilton explained, “I was told literally when he was at the apex behind me, so I had no idea he was coming. I thought everyone came out behind me. I was the first out, so I thought everyone had finished the lap.” Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur confirmed that the infraction was a team error rather than a driver mistake, emphasizing that the responsibility lay with the crew’s communication. With Hamilton now starting from fifth, his chances of securing a podium finish are diminished, especially as Mercedes has endured its toughest weekend of the season to date.
Antonelli’s separate penalty offers a small silver lining for Hamilton’s title chase, as the Italian rookie’s own grid drop could narrow the points gap before the summer break. Both drivers will be looking to maximize points in Budapest, knowing that the championship battle remains finely balanced.
The Hungarian Grand Prix schedule for Sunday includes a full day of support races, starting with the F3 Feature Race at 7:35 am, followed by the Porsche Supercup, the F2 Feature Race, and a build‑up show before the main event at 2:00 pm. The race will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event, with streaming available via NOW for viewers without a contract.
Overall, the qualifying session highlighted McLaren’s resurgence, the impact of strategic penalties, and the ongoing intrigue of a tightly contested championship as the summer segment of the 2026 Formula 1 season heads toward its midpoint.