Leclerc lands shock pole position in Hungary

Despite dominating every session in the lead-up to the shootout, McLaren was upstaged in the final moments of Qualifying when Charles Leclerc pulled off a sensational final lap to snatch a shock pole for Ferrari in Hungary.

Qualifying 1:

Dark clouds lingered on the horizon, but in the heat of the Hungarian summer, Q1 burst into life as the scramble to avoid an early elimination set the tone for a pressure-packed hour of Qualifying.

But first came the familiar stalemate, as teams hesitated to blink first when the pitlane light flicked green until the Williams duo took the early jump, heading out onto the cooling circuit as track temperature began to drop. 

With 12 minutes on the clock, the rest of the field joined Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz in their mission to secure a ticket to Q2, clearing the teammates’ attempts with ease.

Continuing with his benchmark pace in FP3, Oscar Piastri’s first tour of the Hungaroring reaped a flying time of 1:15.554s, placing him three-tenths ahead of his teammate, Lando Norris, as they settled into 1-2.

Following a brief lull in the garage, Piastri emerged from the pitlane to complete his second and final lap on a used set of soft tyres, preserving a fresh set for when it mattered most while shaving three-tenths off his already fastest lap.

With a time of 1:15.211s, the Australian safely advanced to Q2 as the quickest driver of the opening stage, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Isack Hadjar.

Splitting the Red Bull drivers on his first dash through the 4.38km lap, Liam Lawson found himself edging towards the elimination zone after only managing to set the 14th fastest initial time. 

The seconds ticked down as Lawson eyed his final launch in Q1, making it to the line with just 12 seconds to spare before focusing on finding more time through the 14 corners. 

Setting three personal best sectors, the Racing Bulls driver jumped clear of the bottom five, however, it wasn’t all smiles for the overarching Red Bull camp when he forced Yuki Tsunoda into a Q1 exit, clearing the #22 by just five hundredths while he advanced to Q2.

As for the rest of the field, Mercedes-powered machinery proved to have a marginal edge over the competition after the first haul of flying laps had been recorded, with six out of the top eight fastest drivers being powered by the silver arrow.

At the other end of the spectrum, Sainz couldn’t match that edge in his Williams, sitting in P16 ahead of four nervous drivers in Yuki Tsunoda, Ollie Bearman, Pierre Gasly, and Esteban Ocon, who filled the elimination zone.

As the field tiptoed out of the pitlane, the driver with the biggest task ahead of him informed his team of a slight issue with his front right tyre, with Ocon spotting a screw attached to the hot rubber as he set off on his final out-lap with two minutes on the clock. 

Improvements came in across the board, with Tsunoda the first vulnerable driver to clear the bottom five after finding personal best sectors across the lap, however, it was only temporary, when Lawson delivered the final blow to demote Tsunoda to P16 after the chequered flag.

The Williams driver went five places better than the Red Bull driver’s initial result, moving into P7 as the elimination zone began taking shape.

Replacing his teammate, Albon fell into a Q1 exit after a lacklustre final run saw him clock in the slowest time of all 20 drivers, while Nico Hulkenberg slotted in just one-tenth ahead despite an earlier touch with the gravel at Turn 12.

Unaffected by the rogue screw, Ocon was still unable to clear the bottom five, instead forced to watch on as his rookie teammate joined all other rookies in the Q2 competition. 

The Frenchman will share Row 9 with his former Alpine teammate, Pierre Gasly, while the fastest Alpine of the session narrowly scraped into Q2 in P15, with Franco Colapinto out-qualifying Gasly for the second time ever.

Qualifying 2:

Having lost five experienced drivers from the shootout, the changeable conditions called upon all wet weather history as the dark clouds began sprinkling at Turns 1 and 5.

As a result, the field rushed out of the pitlane to make the most of the dry conditions, with Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli guiding the pack around the track as the light went green.

Q2 seemed to set the tone for the final result of Piastri’s session, with the Australian’s initial attempt placing him as the second fastest driver, just 0.051s behind the benchmark pace as the windy weather rolled in. 

Exiting the pitlane of one final dash in the second stage of qualifying, Piastri improved to set his fastest time of Q2, a 1:14.941s, which allowed him to breeze into the top ten shootout in P2.

Lawson started his Q2 campaign in ninth place, setting a lap that left him less than a tenth clear of the elimination zone in another stressful twist of fate.

Nine seemed to be the Kiwi’s lucky number from this point onwards, with Lawson once again clocking in at P9 with a fastest final Q2 time of 1:15.630s.

Sitting six-hundredths ahead of the slowest five drivers, the Racing Bulls driver secured a place in the top ten shootout, with Isack Hadjar following suit to make it a double Q3 appearance for the Faenza-based outfit.

McLaren and Aston Martin led the timesheets after the first round of flying laps were cemented, with Norris setting a benchmark of 1:14.890s at the head of the field.

At the head of the elimination zone were both Ferrari drivers, with Charles Leclerc telling his team off for unleashing him into poor track positioning, which contributed to his 10th fastest lap, placing him just 16 milliseconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who was currently facing a Q2 exit in P11.

The man who Hamilton replaced trailed the seven-time world champion’s lap, with the three rookies of Gabriel Bortoleto, Antonelli and Colapinto completing the bottom five. 

The cars started to file out of the pitlane with four minutes on the clock, with Leclerc’s wishes coming true when Ferrari sent him out at the front of the pitlane chaos — something Sainz found himself in the middle of as he unsuccessfully attempted to cut the queue.

Both Ferrari drivers set personal bests as they rounded the 14 corners, with Leclerc moving into P5 while Hamilton could only manage a risky P7 as they had to watch the fate unfold on the track TV screens.

The answer arrived sooner rather than later for the #44, with Lewis Hamilton knocked all the way back to 13th (eventually inheriting one position), missing out on a place in the top ten by just 0.015s after a messy run through Sector 3.

Also disappointed with his final qualifying result due to a snappy run through the final sector was Antonelli, who fell just six milliseconds short of Q3 before his lap was deleted, leaving him in P15 for tomorrow’s 70-lap race. 

The remaining three drivers also eliminated in the second stage of the session were Bearman, Sainz and Colapinto. 

At the head of the field, the McLaren drivers once again led the charge, followed by Stroll, Russell and Alonso as they returned to the renovated pit building for a short pause in between sessions.

Qualifying 3:

Coming down to the business end of the hour shootout, the Aston Martin duo wasted no time in putting their promising pace on display in Hungary, however, it was no match for what the McLaren drivers were packing when Piastri and Norris secured the provisional front row. 

The Australian lit up the timesheets with a 1:15.398s provisional pole lap, leading over his teammate by just 0.096s before two purple sectors from George Russell threatened to derail their initial plans.

The Mercedes driver wasn’t able to compare with the papaya pace, with a “gusty” run through the final sector, leaving him over two-tenths back in P3 as the weather conditions continued to change. 

Sitting seven-tenths back on the provisional pole lap, Verstappen’s grip woes continued to show face in Q3, with the Dutchman telling the pit wall that it felt like he was “driving on ice” as he settled into P5, still managing to outpace Leclerc, though, with the Ferrari driver just one of many hoping to improve when the second and final round of flying laps kicked off.

The Aston Martin teammates put their feet to the floor as they launched first around the 14 corners, with Alonso making the biggest impression when he moved into second place, just 0.083s behind Piastri’s first run. 

Lance Stroll also made his presence known, moving into the top four, however, Aston Martin’s success was soon overshadowed by a recovery drive from a disbelieving Leclerc.

Setting a blistering middle sector as he weaved through traffic, the #16 dragged his SF25 to the line in a time of 1:15.372s, putting him just 0.026s ahead of the Australian’s first attempt and leaving him in a fit of laughter when he was informed of the lead result.

With one minute to go, the McLaren drivers each had the chance to spoil the Ferrari driver’s surprise party, however, yellow sectors soured Norris and Piastri’s final attempts, with the #81 almost three-tenths down through the middle sector.

Piastri blamed the drastic change in wind for the snappy car underneath him, admitting that it was a “pathetic” excuse, however, a very real one as he failed to make any ground on his original Q3 time. 

Sitting 26 milliseconds behind the pole-sitting Ferrari, Piastri’s teammate almost knocked him down an additional peg, however, Norris could only manage third fastest, 15 milliseconds behind the Australian.

Russell set two personal best sectors to move into fourth place on the grid for tomorrow’s Grand Prix, leaving Row 3 as an Aston Martin lockout when it comes time for lights out.

Bortoleto stunned in his second Q3 appearance of his career, beating Verstappen on the timesheets by an extremely slim three-millisecond margin to see the good friends placing in P7 and P8.

Rounding out the top ten, the Racing Bulls teammate fell into P9 and P10 when the chequered flag waved in Budapest.

Lawson was a part of the first round of drivers to exit the pitlane at the start of Q3, originally setting the seventh fastest lap despite tracking over 1.2 seconds off the pace.

Having returned to the pitlane for a brief pause, the Kiwi rejoined the duel with less than two minutes remaining.

Charging through the first sector, Lawson set a personal best sector — a trend he continued through Sectors 2 and 3 to record his fastest time of 1:15.821s, placing him in a temporary P8 before Verstappen instated himself as the quickest Red Bull representative in the dying stages of Qualifying.

With a mix of drivers out of position, the Hungarian Grand Prix will almost certainly provide its fair share of entertainment when the field is unleashed for 70 laps of racing on Sunday, with Charles Leclerc leading his rivals away from pole position at 23:00 AEST.

Image: Formula 1

Hungarian Grand Prix Qualifying Results: 

2025 Hungarian Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday, August 01:

Free Practice 1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, August 02:

Free Practice 2: 01:00 – 02:00

Free Practice 3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, August 03: 

Qualifying: 00:00 – 01:00

Race: 23:00

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