Hungarian Grand Prix – Qualifying: Surprise pole for Charles Leclerc

After a domination by McLaren during the free practice sessions, the front row seemed unlikely to escape them. The stakes were therefore much higher for the podium places with Ferrari and Aston Martin being quite strong. Before qualifying, the Saubers were also in a position to make a move. “The qualifying will be tight for everyone,” confirmed Nico Hülkenberg.

Q1

This session started badly for Carlos Sainz, who locked up his front right wheel at the first corner of his first attempt. A mistake that cost him eight-tenths compared to his teammate, Alex Albon. Behind, the Red Bulls were more than a second faster than the Williams, which were immediately beaten by the McLarens with an eight-tenth gap (Piastri, 1’15”554).

On their first attempt, the Mercedes put in a strong performance by positioning themselves between the two McLarens. A few minutes before the end of Q1, Lance Stroll took the third provisional spot before Fernando Alonso beat Oscar Piastri by three-tenths (1’15”281). The Australian reclaimed his position with an improvement of 70 thousandths.

At the end of the session, the track clearly improved, with all the drivers running much faster, as evidenced by Gabriel Bortoleto who set the sixth time. In a slight surprise, Franco Colapinto managed to reach Q2, while his teammate achieved the 17th time. Isack Hadjar secured the third time.

The eliminated: Albon, Hülkenberg, Ocon, Gasly, Tsunoda.

Q2

Q2 started with a slight delay due to gravel on the track at turn 12. As the drivers were leaving the pit lane, raindrops began to appear at the Hungaroring. This didn’t disturb the Aston Martin drivers, who were faster compared to their Q1 times. Fernando Alonso was two-tenths of a second off Oscar Piastri’s Q1 time.

In this Q2, Lando Norris was the first to go under one minute 15 (1’14”890), his teammate failed by 51 thousandths.

With very small gaps and the threat of rain, the drivers took many risks. Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli had quite a scare, respectively in turn 4 and the last one. Lewis Hamilton was eliminated just like the Italian from Mercedes. The latter will finally start 15th after seeing his 11th mark annulled.

The eliminated: Colapinto, Sainz, Hamilton, Bearman, Antonelli.

Q3

As in Q2, the Aston Martins immediately left the pits to take advantage of a clear track. Trying to push too hard, Lance Stroll went too wide on his first attempt. Luckily for him, he was on worn tires. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso clocked in at 1:16.025.

A little later, Lando Norris recorded a time of 1:15.494 and Oscar Piastri at 1:15.398. Despite the new tires, the drivers did not improve on their Q2 times. The track temperature could be the explanation since it dropped by nearly 15 degrees.

Started as usual with a staggered approach, Lance Stroll on fresh tires completed Q3 with the third provisional time, a tenth behind the McLarens. Fernando Alonso slotted in between the two papaya-colored cars.

Behind, Charles Leclerc set the best provisional time, where the McLarens were unable to match the Monegasque’s mark despite an improvement. The drop in temperatures certainly helped driver #16.