Lando Norris, a British driver for the McLaren team, secured pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix following the qualifying session at the Hungaroring circuit near Budapest. He managed to overtake Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari, achieving his first pole of the season with a flawless lap recorded in the final seconds of qualifying.
The 26-year-old Briton set the fastest lap time of one minute and 17.207 seconds. This result allowed him to surpass Hamilton's attempt to set an unprecedented tenth pole on this track by only 0.012 seconds. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari finished third in qualifying ahead of Sunday's race in Budapest.
World champion Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes finished fourth, trailing by 0.260 seconds. He was overtaken by Oscar Piastri of McLaren and four-time champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull.
Norris expressed his delight, stating: 'I am very happy to be back on top.' He noted the difficulty of the session and the high speed of the Ferrari drivers, adding that improvements helped the team: 'It was tough throughout the weekend, but we were fast, and our upgrades helped – it feels great to be on pole, especially at this track.'
Hamilton, aged 41, approached the potential status of the oldest pole sitter since Mario Andretti at the 1982 Italian Grand Prix. For Norris, this was his second pole in Budapest and his seventeenth in his career, the last of which was in Las Vegas in November.
Hamilton congratulated Norris, remarking: 'I think we worked well all weekend and were consistent in qualifying, but going out first wasn't the right decision. Furthermore, the grip just wasn't there for Charles and me at the end. We were the fastest, but ultimately it slipped away from us.'
Leclerc explained his position due to changes in wind: 'There were quite a few wind changes today, and I didn't expect that. Everything was a bit chaotic.'
The session began under hot conditions with a track temperature of 52°C. Valtteri Bottas led the start in his Cadillac, followed by rivals from Williams and Aston Martin in updated 'B-spec' cars. Ferrari ran both cars on medium tyres, and Hamilton quickly set the pace with 1:18.730, overtaking Leclerc, whose lap was discarded for exceeding track limits.
The remaining participants used soft tyres. Norris was ahead of Verstappen and Antonelli, with Hamilton behind them. Meanwhile, Aston Martin was pleased as Alonso finished 16th and qualified for Q2 for the first time this year.
Both Cadillacs, both Williams cars, Lance Stroll in the second Aston Martin, and Oliver Berman from Haas were eliminated from the race. Alex Albon of Williams called the situation 'terrible', questioning the frequent balance changes of the cars.
Alonso, using worn soft tyres, was the first to enter Q2 but was half a second slower than Hajar, who had previously declared his car 'undrivable' during FP3. In front of Hamilton on soft tyres, Antonelli posted 1:17.931, much to his dissatisfaction.
Unexpectedly, Alonso climbed to 10th place, and then, after a pit stop, moved to first place, but was overtaken by Norris, while Leclerc passed him in the final seconds of the lap.
Liam Lawson from Racing Bulls, two Alpine cars, Gabriel Bortoleto from Audi, and Esteban Ocon from Haas, who finished 16th, were also eliminated from the race. The battle for the top 10 began, where Hamilton initially took provisional first place with a lap of 1:17.219, overtaking Norris by a tenth of a second, as well as Leclerc and Antonelli after their initial fast runs.
Hamilton and Leclerc went out for a second run but could not improve their positions. Verstappen then caused his Red Bull to spin at Turn 13, triggering yellow flags that affected several following cars, although Norris's McLaren remained untouched.
Lando Norris from the McLaren team secured his first victory of the season at the Hungarian Grand Prix, held in Budapest. This win marked his twelfth career victory, and he achieved a triumph for McLaren over Red Bull driver Max Verstappen in Sunday's Grand Prix.
The 26-year-old Briton, who started on pole position, managed to recover after a poor first lap. He finished 15 seconds ahead of four-time champion Verstappen. In third place finished world champion Kimi Antonelli from Mercedes. Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton took fourth and fifth places, respectively, ahead of Isak Hajar in the second Red Bull car, George Russell in the second Mercedes car, and Liam Lawson from Racing Bulls.
Nico Hulkenberg earned his first points of the season by finishing ninth for Audi, ahead of newcomer Arvid Lindblad in the second Racing Bulls car. Norris repeated last year's success at the Hungaroring track, where McLaren has won the last three years consecutively. Thanks to decisive driving in a tense race with various tire strategies, Antonelli increased his championship lead over Hamilton by 50 points.
After the race, Norris stated over the team radio: 'Great. The car was incredible today! It flew!' He added: 'This is probably the best pace I have ever had. This track suits us.' Verstappen, however, criticized his car but was pleased to secure another podium, noting: 'I didn't expect this – we had to work very hard for it.' Antonelli described the race as difficult, stating: 'It was so hard to overtake, but it's the best result for me before the break, and now we can keep pushing.'
The race began in hot conditions, reaching the highest temperature of the weekend—31°C air and 51°C on the track. Ferrari took a risk by using soft tires for the start, while all other teams started on mediums. Oscar Piastri started quickly and overtook Leclerc. When Norris went off track at the second corner, Piastri took the lead, and Hamilton overtook Leclerc, taking fourth place behind Verstappen.
Meanwhile, Russell's Mercedes car suffered a failure on the grid, dropping from sixth to twentieth place, while his teammate Antonelli advanced to sixth place. Hamilton tried unsuccessfully to attack Verstappen and began losing control by the tenth lap. Hamilton reported: 'Max is slow,' and made a pit stop for Verstappen's undercut on lap 14, returning to tenth place and overtaking Lindblad, before Red Bull called the Dutchman in on lap 15.
Verstappen pulled out behind Hamilton but regained his positions by making a pass on the inside at the first corner. Piastri pitted from the leading position, followed by Leclerc. The situation was extremely tense, and when Norris entered the pits, Antonelli took the lead. When the Italian driver stopped, he moved back to sixth place. Piastri led the race, followed by his teammate Norris. The Briton requested a stop, but McLaren first sent Piastri into the pits.
Midway through the race, Norris was five seconds ahead of Verstappen. Then Norris pitted from the leading position on lap 40 and returned to third place behind Piastri. The Australian narrowly avoided a serious collision with Williams' Carlos Sainz at the second corner, where they crashed. Sainz received a five-second penalty.
After another pit stop by Verstappen, Antonelli took the lead, with Norris following him. Norris, on fresher tires, regained the lead on lap 46, diving inside the young Italian at the first corner, and extended his advantage before Antonelli pitted again. Hopes for a McLaren 1-2 were dashed when Piastri slowed down and retired from the race due to gearbox issues, leading to the deployment of a Virtual Safety Car (VSC). Norris, Hamilton, and Leclerc immediately stopped for soft tires. In the final sprint, Norris led Verstappen, and Antonelli finished third, ahead of Hamilton, who received a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
