Norris leads all-McLaren front row after late Q3 red flag

Lando Norris took pole for the Hungarian Grand Prix as McLaren locked out the front row in Formula 1 qualifying, the Briton setting a time just 0.022s clear of team-mate Oscar Piastri.

Norris slotted in his eventual pole time, a 1m15.227s, on his first run in Q3 as an effort to extend that advantage was nixed by a late-session red flag caused by Yuki Tsunoda’s Turn 5 crash.

Max Verstappen had thrown down the gauntlet at the start of Q3 with a 1m15.555s on his opening run, although stated that he wanted more front wing for a follow-up lap with new tyres after losing time in the middle sector.

That shortfall was put into perspective as Norris found over three tenths of a second, vaulting to the top of the order to claim provisional pole.

Piastri then eclipsed Verstappen’s first time on his next run, 0.022s shy of Norris’ initial effort, and this also put the Australian clear of Verstappen’s next effort: a 1m15.273s.

Yuki Tsunoda then produced a red flag with just over two minutes remaining, getting on the AstroTurf on the exit of Turn 5 and crunching his RB into the outside wall.

The session was restarted, although Verstappen did not take to the circuit as Red Bull did not believe it could improve its time on used tyres. This proved to be the case for those who did run, enshrining the McLarens’ front-row lockout.

Carlos Sainz starts alongside Verstappen on the second row, while Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc collected fifth and sixth.

The Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were seventh and eighth, while Daniel Ricciardo moved up to ninth after improving on his post-red-flag lap, leaving Tsunoda in a provisional 10th.

Hamilton narrowly made the cut into Q3, as none of the late laps from the Haas duo and Valtteri Bottas proved enough to dislodge the Mercedes driver from the top 10.

Nico Hulkenberg had managed to get a lap in, despite being tight for time after struggling to find space in the pitlane. Regardless, the German was just 0.01s shy of Hamilton to collect a Q2 elimination with 11th.

Bottas was 12th fastest, stating that the lap was “all I’ve got” as he jumped the Williams duo in the order.

Neither of the Williams drivers was particularly impressed over their laps; the 13th-placed Alex Albon felt he should have gone out later to benefit from track evolution, while Logan Sargeant was displeased by traffic on his final tour. Kevin Magnussen completed the top 15.

Although there had been rainfall between the earlier F2 race and the start of F1 qualifying, the circuit had dried enough for soft tyres at the commencement of Q1.

Light rain had continued to fall throughout, but not at a rate that could stop the cars from drying the track with continued laps in the opening 10 minutes of the session.

With the majority of drivers either set to switch to a second set of softs, or already out on a new set, Sergio Perez suffered a spin on the entry to Turn 8 resulted in a crash. The Red Bull lost grip on a presumed damp kerb, hurling the Mexican into the fence to bring his session to an end and produce a red flag.

The circuit was slightly damp on the restart, but the conditions began to improve throughout the remaining six-and-a-half minutes. George Russell went out too soon, however, and although he managed to move up to 10th with his next lap on new softs, he was vulnerable at the end of the session.

As such, the improving conditions were underlined by Daniel Ricciardo’s surge from the bottom five into first, which hindered those who had gone early.

Russell had pitted in the meantime having not had enough fuel on board to keep running, and soon drifted towards the bottom five. He was thus unable to take advantage of the improving conditions and came to rest in 17th – behind Perez, who was also eliminated.

Zhou Guanyu improved on his final lap but could not break out of the bottom five to start 18th, while the two Alpines did not go out at all amid the final flurry of runs, dropping into the bottom two positions by the end of the session: Esteban Ocon starts ahead of Pierre Gasly from the final row.