Hungarian Grand Prix: Lando Norris upsets Ferrari and Mercedes with blistering polePAMultiple AuthorsJul 25, 2026, 11:05 AM ET
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Lando Norris landed the first pole position of his world championship defence after he beat Lewis Hamilton to the top spot for the Hungarian Grand Prix by just 0.012 seconds.
Hamilton appeared on course to end a three-year run without taking pole only to be usurped by Norris in the closing moments of a thrilling qualifying session at the Hungaroring.
Hamilton had to settle for second, a place ahead of his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, but he still has a strong chance of taking a record-extending ninth win at a venue he has so often ruled, and slash Kimi Antonelli’s advantage at the summit of the world championship standings.
Antonelli, who holds a 45-point lead over Hamilton heading into the final round before the sport’s summer break, starts only fourth after Mercedes’ exclusive run of poles at every round so far came to a stuttering end.
Antonelli’s teammate George Russell was even further back in seventh as his title assault threatens to combust.
Russell’s campaign has been blighted by reliability problems and he stopped on track with another failure after he completed his last lap.
Norris’ McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri finished fifth, four tenths back, with Max Verstappen sixth. The Dutchman spun out in the last few moments of the final session.
Hamilton held an advantage of 0.101 seconds prior to the deciding runs in Q3, but he could not improve on his time to leave the door ajar to the chasing pack.
He faces a stewards’ investigation for potentially impeding Piastri in Q3.
Leclerc also could not better his lap and although Antonelli marginally improved, he remained in fourth before Norris danced around the final corner to secure pole by the smallest of margins.
– Hungarian Grand Prix: Lando Norris fastest in final practice, Ferrari and Mercedes in the mix
– Aston Martin’s ‘new car’ suffers early setback; Adrian Newey still encouraged
– Lando Norris says new way of racing in F1 a ‘shame:’ ‘Not how a sport should be run’
Further back, Russell — already 50 points behind Antonelli — could lose further ground in the title race.
He has struggled for speed all weekend and, seemingly low on confidence, lines up three spots behind the Italian teenager, more than half-a-second off the leading pace.
Aston Martin have brought a total of 16 upgraded components here in the hope of salvaging what has been a dismal season — one team principal Adrian Newey described on Friday as a “complete nightmare.”
Fernando Alonso made it out of Q2 for the first time this season and finished 16th, a minor boost to the British team. However, Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll starts 19th.
Aston Martin’s mild upturn in form has demoted Cadillac to the back with Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez propping up the grid for Sunday’s race. While over at Williams, there appears to be no imminent light at the end of the tunnel, with both Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon eliminated in Q1.
Williams have scored just 11 points so far and it looks unlikely they will add to that disappointing tally, with only Stroll, Bottas and Pérez behind Sainz and Albon, and overtaking expected to be difficult on Sunday.
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