Fraser MasefieldLando Norris put in a mighty final flying lap to snatch pole position from Lewis Hamilton’s grasp for the Hungarian Grand Prix by 0.012s.
But with Hamilton appearing to impede Oscar Piastri on the start of the McLaren’s final flying lap, he was later slapped with a three place grid penalty.
The same later applied to championship leader Kimi Antonelli, meaning the Ferrari driver will now start from fifth for Sunday’s race with Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri and jumping ahead of him and Max Verstappen a place ahead of Antonelli.
“Very, very happy to be back on pole,” said Norris afterwards. “A tough quali. Obviously, these guys [Ferrari] here were very quick and it’s been pretty tight the whole weekend.
“But we’ve been quick from the first laps that we did, and we’ve bought a few upgrades so hard to know how much it helps in terms of lap time, but it certainly helped today.
“So very happy to be back on top, especially at the track where you certainly want to be on top of.”
It looked as if Hamilton would extend his Hungaroring record to a tenth pole position.
But after Verstappen spun into the final corner, double waved yellows meant that only the McLaren duo could improve on their time.
And it was Norris who kept his cool to cement a first pole position of the season as he looks for a first win in 2026 on race day.
“Firstly, congratulations to Lando,” said Hamilton. “That was a great lap. Yeah, we’ve been doing a great job all weekend. I felt solid throughout qualifying.
“For some reason, I mean, we went out first, which I don’t think was the right call.
“But then on top of that, just the grip for some reason wasn’t there on that last lap. I think for both Charles and I.
“And, yeah, it’s obviously a track that I love. I think we’re obviously competitive, but I think tomorrow’s going be a hard day.”
George Russell’s head scratching woes continue as he lines up for Sunday’s grand prix in seventh position as Isack Hadjar, Arvid Lindblad and Nico Hulkenberg round out the top ten.
“Gorgeous”
First pole of 2026 for Lando! 🤩 #F1 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/Iy3T6ZW4tO
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 25, 2026
“Honestly, I had confidence the whole today,” added Norris. “My laps in Q3 were not the best, even though I at the end, so pleasantly surprised to be on top.
“But we’ve been doing a good job. The car’s been feeling good. Very, very pleased with the team.
“A big thanks to them for working so hard and yeah, another big talk for tomorrow.”
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Craig Scarborough