Lando Norris denies Lewis Hamilton historic Hungarian GP pole position

Lando Norris secured pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix, denying Lewis Hamilton an historic pole position by just 0.012s.

Hamilton held provisional pole in Budapest on a 1:17.219, but could not improve on his second lap, leaving the door open for Norris. 

The reigning world champion posted a 1:17.207s to snatch pole by 0.012s, as Max Verstappen and George Russell suffered late issues.

Russell's challenge was halted after stopping on the main straight, with Verstappen spinning out at the final corner. 

Charles Leclerc will start third, Kimi Antonelli fourth, Oscar Piastri in fifth, Verstappen sixth and Russell in seventh. 

Q3

After the first Q3 runs, Hamilton held a 0.101s lead over Norris, with Leclerc in third place, but none of the leading contenders were able to improve their laps, with the exception of Norris. 

Although Hamilton was fastest in the first and third sectors, Norris was in the second sector, and pipped Hamilton to his first pole in three years by the slender margin of 0.012s. 

It came after Verstappen had spun out leaving him sixth, with Leclerc, Antonelli, and Piastri all ahead. 

Russell was seventh after stopping at Turn 1, with Isack Hadjar, Arvid Lindblad, and Nico Hulkenberg rounding out the top 10.

Antonelli and Leclerc in danger in Q2

There was late drama in Q2 with Antonelli and Leclerc both at risk of an early exit.

Antonelli's P3 lap-time was deleted for exceeding track limits, dropping him into the elimination zone with one lap left, but was able to make P8 on his final effort to secure a Q3 slot. 

Leclerc was shuffled downwards as other drivers improved, and down to 12th place, before his final lap moved up to P2, behind Norris. 

The first eliminee was Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls, as Pierre Gasly out-qualified Franco Colapinto once again at Alpine.

Gabriel Bortoleto was half a second slower than Hulkenberg and fell in 14th in the second Audi, with Esteban Ocon ahead of Fernando Alonso for Aston Martin in 16th.

Alonso did provisionally move up to P10 after his final flying lap, but was shuffled back and was about 1.2s from a Q3 slot, although he was less than a tenth slower than Ocon's Haas.

Up front, Norris topped the segment from Leclerc and Hamilton. 

Leclerc also survived a brief investigation for a yellow flag infringement after Hadjar spun at Turn 12.

Aston Martin make Q2 for first time in 2026

The biggest story of Q1 was that Alonso finally escaped the segment and qualified for Q2 in the heavily upgraded AMR26. 

Alonso's 1:20.126 was 0.107s faster than Oliver Bearman in Haas, with Bearman being dumped out at the last minute as both Alpines of Gasly and Colapinto moved clear of the elimination zone and to safety. 

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon took 18th and 19th for Williams, with Albon perplexed by the struggles of the balance of his car. 

Lance Stroll was 20th for Aston Martin, 0.533s down on Alonso, with the back row filled by both Cadillacs.

Valtteri Bottas was just over two-tenths slower than Stroll in 21st, with Sergio Perez slowest of all, nearly half-a-second behind his team-mate having missed FP3 after stopping early on track.

Up front, Norris topped the segment from Verstappen and Antonelli, with Hamilton and Leclerc the only drivers to complete the session on medium tyres, thus saving a new set of soft tyres.