Lando Norris after securing pole in Hungary: “A good feeling right from the first lap”

A superb performance from McLaren driver Lando Norris in the thrilling qualifying session for the historic Hungarian Grand Prix: The world champion has secured the 17th Formula 1 pole of his career (equalling Sir Jackie Stewart’s tally); this is his first pole of the 2026 Grand Prix season, his first since Las Vegas in 2025 and his second at the Hungaroring following 2024.

This means that, for the first time in the 11th qualifying session of the 2026 Grand Prix season, there is no Mercedes on pole position! Norris’s pole is McLaren’s 178th and their tenth at this circuit.

Norris pipped Lewis Hamilton to the post by 12 thousandths of a second, denying him his 105th pole and Hamilton’s first since Hungary in 2023. The man with number 44 would also have become the oldest man on pole, 44 years after Mario Andretti’s pole at Monza in 1982. And the first driver to secure ten poles at the Hungaroring.

Norris is, of course, over the moon after this flawless performance. The Englishman beams: “I couldn’t be happier to have finally secured another pole; the competition didn’t make it easy for me.”

“The gaps were tight – I’d expected that. We were strong here right from the first lap, and the latest improvements to the car have paid off.”

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“I’m relieved to have secured pole, because everyone knows how important starting from the front row is on this circuit. I already had a good feeling this morning, and right at the very end I managed to squeeze a bit more speed out of the McLaren.”

“I’m feeling quite relaxed about the race: I’m in the best position. Of course I know I’ll face a lot of headwind, but I’m not overthinking it. We’ve laid a good foundation here; now we want to see it through to the end in the Grand Prix.”

How the final practice session went

Good conditions for the eleventh F1 final practice session of the season at the Hungaroring: an air temperature of 26.6 degrees, track temperature at 47.9 degrees, and the wind coming from a different direction to Friday – but the time for excuses was over; 60 minutes of the third practice session had to be enough to get used to the conditions.

The Ferraris went out on medium tyres in Q1, apparently believing they were fast enough to get through the first qualifying session even on those. Leclerc strayed too far off the track on his fast lap, so that lap was disallowed. Hamilton was initially in the lead. Then Verstappen overtook Hamilton, but Max was on soft Pirellis.

Kimi Antonelli moved into P2 after nine minutes, just behind Verstappen. Then came last year’s winner, Lando Norris: the new leader, well ahead of Max.

Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto also had a lap disallowed, leaving him still without a time with six minutes remaining in Q1.

The following drivers were eliminated early at the end of Q1: Bearman (P17), Sainz, Albon, Stroll, Bottas and Pérez.

The top ten: Norris, Antonelli, Verstappen, Hamilton, Hadjar, Hülkenberg, Russell, Piastri, Leclerc and Bortoleto.

Good to see: Fernando Alonso in the improved Aston Martin-Honda in 16th place and thus through to Q2. Progress at last.

In the second qualifying segment, Verstappen set the initial benchmark, but that fastest time had an expiry date in the form of Kimi Antonelli – then yellow flags were waved following a spin by Isack Hadjar at Turn 12.

After that, cheers from the Tifosi: Hamilton was back on top. Kimi Antonelli complained over the radio: “We need to do something a bit different with these tyres; I’ve got zero grip here.”

Standings: Hamilton, Antonelli, Verstappen, Norris and Russell, Hülkenberg in P10.

World Champion Norris received a warning: “Careful, Lando, the wind in Turn 1 is very changeable.”

Then Hadjar moved up to P1 on his second attempt – a strong performance from the Parisian. And a shock for championship leader Antonelli – his only lap was disallowed, dropping him back to P15!

Piastri moves up to P2, Norris then becomes the new leader, Antonelli manages to get into 8th place – that just went well again – Leclerc moves up to P2.

That leaves the top ten as follows: Norris, Leclerc, Hamilton, Hadjar, Piastri, Verstappen, Lindblad, Antonelli, Russell and Hülkenberg.

Out from 11th place onwards: Lawson, Gasly, Colapinto, Bortoleto, Ocon and Alonso.

In Q3, Verstappen was initially in the lead, but was immediately pipped by Piastri, who was then beaten by Norris; however, Hamilton managed to do even better – spontaneous applause broke out in the media centre!

Antonelli was only in P4 (once again, the Italian was complaining over the radio about a lack of grip), whilst Russell was down in P7. Leclerc, on the other hand, climbed up to third place.

Order: Hamilton, Norris, Leclerc, Antonelli, Piastri, Verstappen, Russell, Hadjar, Lindblad and Hülkenberg.

On the second attempt, Hamilton was the first out on track and thus had a clear run. But the seven-time champion was unable to improve on his time.

Then Verstappen spun, holding up both Mercedes, Antonelli moved up to P4 – and Norris snatched pole position from Hamilton.

So Norris ahead of Hamilton, then Leclerc, Antonelli, Piastri, Verstappen, Russell, Hadjar, Lindblad and Hamilton.