McLaren Secures Front Row at Hungarian Grand Prix: Norris on Pole Position

Lando Norris grabbed pole position for Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix after a thrilling qualifying session.

Oscar Piastri will start second, with Max Verstappen in third. Sergio Perez and Yuki Tsunoda caused two red flags, ending Mercedes’ streak of consecutive poles in Hungary.

Qualifying Drama at the Hungarian Grand Prix

Rain began just before the qualifying session on Saturday, so all 20 drivers hit the track on soft tires. The wet conditions worsened quickly. Lewis Hamilton, a nine-time pole starter in Budapest, was fastest with twelve minutes left when Logan Sargeant triggered a yellow flag by hitting the barrier. He rejoined and cleared the flag soon after.

With less than seven minutes remaining, Sergio Perez crashed into the barrier causing a red flag and ending his session due to a slippery kerb mishap.

Once qualifying resumed, drivers rushed back to avoid Q1 elimination. Daniel Ricciardo clocked the fastest time ahead of Hamilton. Perez, George Russell, Zhou Guanyu, Esteban Ocon, and Pierre Gasly were eliminated. Russell was particularly upset about his exit and questioned why his car lacked enough fuel over team radio.

Q2 started with Verstappen setting an early fast time while Piastri looked strong too. With two minutes left, Hamilton struggled for grip as weather conditions fluctuated. Lando Norris ended Q2 fastest ahead of Verstappen; Hamilton barely made it to Q3 by just 0.010s from Nico Hulkenberg who got eliminated along with Valtteri Bottas, Alex Albon, Logan Sargeant, and Kevin Magnussen.

Norris Secures Pole Position

As Q3 kicked off under warnings of more rain incoming during the final session—Norris grabbed provisional pole from Verstappen by +0.328 seconds as seven minutes remained—and rain began falling again .

Oscar Piastri then took second place from Verstappen with just over two minutes to go before Yuki Tsunoda crashed into turn 5’s wall causing another red flag due to significant damage bringing out medical car assistance too.

Fans might think this is one wild qualifying!

Although Verstappen completed his lap he couldn’t match McLaren’s pace; race-control announced final two-minute resumption but world-champion already exited confident in timing leaving Norris securing Sunday’s Grand Prix pole position upon restart

What do you think about these results?