Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying: Who takes pole? One qualifying session remains ahead of Formula 1’s August shutdown.
Who will take pole position at the Hungaroring?
It was a “Ferrari Friday” at the Hungarian Grand Prix yesterday, as Charles Leclerc topped the timing sheets in FP1, then finished second to teammate Lewis Hamilton during FP2. In the days leading up to the Hungarian Grand Prix many tapped Ferrari as the favorites, including McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, and those early projections may turn out to be true.
However, teams had all Friday night to pour over the data from the first two hours of practice, and have one more hour of work ahead of the qualifying session. Can anyone catch Ferrari at the Hungaroring?
In a few short hours, we will find out together.
Qualifying gets underway at 10:00 a.m. Eastern on Saturday morning, so follow along with us live!
And don’t forget, you can join the conversation at the all-new F1 Feed! We’ll have a qualifying thread there for you as well, so you can chat as the hour ticks down. For help navigating the feed, we have a handy “how to” post for you to review.
Hungarian GP provisional qualifying results
Here is the provisional starting grid for the Hungarian Grand Prix, which will be filled in as the hour unfolds.
Row
Position
Driver
Team
Position
Driver
Team
Row 1 1 Lando Norris McLaren 2 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Row 2 3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 4 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes Row 3 5 Oscar Piastri McLaren 6 Max Verstappen Red Bull Row 4 7 George Russell Mercedes 8 Isack Hadjar Red Bull Row 5 9 Arvid Lindblad VCARB 10 Nico Hülkenberg Audi Row 6 11 Liam Lawson VCARB 12 Pierre Gasly Alpine Row 7 13 Franco Colapinto Alpine 14 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi Row 8 15 Esteban Ocon Haas 16 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Row 9 17 Oliver Bearman Haas 18 Carlos Sainz Williams Row 10 19 Alexander Albon Williams 20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin Row 11 21 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac 22 Sergio Pérez Cadillac
What happened in qualifying
Here is how the qualifying hour unfolded. All updates are in Eastern time.
11:02: Verstappen spins, the Ferraris were off the pace, and it is Lando Norris who takes pole position.
11:00: The McLarens are at the back of the field, they’ll extract every bit of track evolution as a result.
10:59: Three minutes to go, and. the drivers are rumbling out for the final push laps.
Hamilton out first, followed by Leclerc.
10:56: Hamilton, Norris, Leclerc, Antonelli, Piastri, and Verstappen the provisional front three rows.
10:55: The crowd roars as Hamilton takes provisional pole with a 1:17.219. Antonelli only into fourth, and Russell down in P7.
10:54: 1:17.725 for Verstappen. 1:17684 for Piastri. But 1:17.320 for Norris
10:51: Drivers starting to rumble out, led by Verstappen.
10:49: 13 minutes on the clock, Q3 officially underway. But the track silent for now as the teams are waiting for the right moment.
10:42: Norris, Leclerc, Hamilton, Hadjar, Piastri, Verstappen, Lindblad, Antonelli, Russell, and Hulkenberg the ten drivers through to Q3, in that order.
10:42: Lawson, Gasly, Colapinto, Bortoleto, Ocon, and Alonso are the six drivers eliminated at the end of Q2.
10:40: Norris purple through all three sectors, and goes P1 with 1:17.456, more than four-tenths ahead of Hadjar in P2.
10:40: Hadjar’s next effort counts, and it’s good for P1. As for Antonelli, his lap has been deleted for exceeding track limits, and he is now in the drop zone.
10:37: Alonso jumps to P10. Unlikely he gets through to Q3, but a big step forward for Aston Martin.
10:36: Five minutes left in Q2. Hamilton, Antonelli, Verstappen, Norris, and Russell the current top five. Lindblad, Leclerc, Piastri, Lawson, and Hulkenberg round out the top ten.
Gasly, Colapinto, Ocon, Alonso, Hadjar, and Bortoleto the drivers in the drop zone. Hadjar and Bortoleto yet to set a time.
10:33: “I’ve got no grip Bono,” reports Antonelli.
10:32: Antonelli rockets to P1 with a 1:18.178. Russell follows but is 0.467 seconds behind Antonelli, only good enough for fourth. Which becomes fifth, after Hamilton snatches P1 with a 1:17.931.
10:31: Hadjar is following Verstappen, dips a wheel into the gravel, and spins at Turn 12.
10:30: Verstappen jumps to P1 with a 1:18.249.
10:29: 11 minutes remain in Q2, and only Alonso has set a time, with a 1:20.696.
10:26: 15 minutes are on the clock, and Q2 is underway. Alonso the first driver out, soaking up the spot in Q2.
10:20: Bearman, Sainz, Albon, Stroll, Bottas, and Pérez are the six drivers out at the end of Q1.
10:13: With five minutes to go in Q1 the six drivers in the drop zone include Bearman, Albon, Sainz, Bottas, Perez, and Bortoleto, who had his time deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 4.
10:11: Norris gets to P1, 0.379 seconds ahead of Verstappen. Banger of a lap.
10:08: Verstappen’s first attempt is a 1:18.656, good for P1.
10:07: Leclerc’s time is deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 3.
10:06: Hamilton pumps in a 1:18.730 on that set of mediums to go P1, Leclerc slots in P2, just 0.148 seconds behind. Also on the mediums.
10:05: Hamilton and Leclerc are out now, but on a set of C4 medium tires.
10:04: Notable: Albon goes 1:21.596, but Stroll is quicker with a 1:20.847, and Alonso is even quicker with a 1:20.665.
10:01: The Williams duo head out first, followed by Bottas.
10:00: Green light at the end of pit lane, 18 minutes on the clock, and Q1 is underway.
9:53: Norris, Antonelli, and Hamilton the three names predicted to take pole on the pre-qualifying show.
9:43: On the pre-qualifying show, James Hinchcliffe taps Audi as the midfield team to break into Q3 today, citing the “consistency” from Audi this week.
We might have quite the qualifying hour ahead of us.
Lando Norris topped the timing sheets in FP3, just ahead of Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli:
With Leclerc fastest in FP1, Hamilton fastest in FP2, and now Norris fastest in FP3, three different drivers led the way over the three practice sessions.
Buckle up, this could be fun.
#Hungarian #Grand #Prix #qualifying #takes #pole
One qualifying session remains ahead of Formula 1’s August shutdown.
Who will take pole position at the Hungaroring?
It was a “Ferrari Friday” at the Hungarian Grand Prix yesterday, as Charles Leclerc topped the timing sheets in FP1, then finished second to teammate Lewis Hamilton during FP2. In the days leading up to the Hungarian Grand Prix many tapped Ferrari as the favorites, including McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, and those early projections may turn out to be true.
However, teams had all Friday night to pour over the data from the first two hours of practice, and have one more hour of work ahead of the qualifying session. Can anyone catch Ferrari at the Hungaroring?
In a few short hours, we will find out together.
Qualifying gets underway at 10:00 a.m. Eastern on Saturday morning, so follow along with us live!
And don’t forget, you can join the conversation at the all-new F1 Feed! We’ll have a qualifying thread there for you as well, so you can chat as the hour ticks down. For help navigating the feed, we have a handy “how to” post for you to review.
Hungarian GP provisional qualifying results
Here is the provisional starting grid for the Hungarian Grand Prix, which will be filled in as the hour unfolds.
Row | Position | Driver | Team | Position | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Row 1 | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari |
| Row 2 | 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 4 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes |
| Row 3 | 5 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull |
| Row 4 | 7 | George Russell | Mercedes | 8 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull |
| Row 5 | 9 | Arvid Lindblad | VCARB | 10 | Nico Hülkenberg | Audi |
| Row 6 | 11 | Liam Lawson | VCARB | 12 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine |
| Row 7 | 13 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 14 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi |
| Row 8 | 15 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 16 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin |
| Row 9 | 17 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 18 | Carlos Sainz | Williams |
| Row 10 | 19 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 20 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin |
| Row 11 | 21 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | 22 | Sergio Pérez | Cadillac |
What happened in qualifying
Here is how the qualifying hour unfolded. All updates are in Eastern time.
11:02: Verstappen spins, the Ferraris were off the pace, and it is Lando Norris who takes pole position.
11:00: The McLarens are at the back of the field, they’ll extract every bit of track evolution as a result.
10:59: Three minutes to go, and. the drivers are rumbling out for the final push laps.
Hamilton out first, followed by Leclerc.
10:56: Hamilton, Norris, Leclerc, Antonelli, Piastri, and Verstappen the provisional front three rows.
10:55: The crowd roars as Hamilton takes provisional pole with a 1:17.219. Antonelli only into fourth, and Russell down in P7.
10:54: 1:17.725 for Verstappen. 1:17684 for Piastri. But 1:17.320 for Norris
10:51: Drivers starting to rumble out, led by Verstappen.
10:49: 13 minutes on the clock, Q3 officially underway. But the track silent for now as the teams are waiting for the right moment.
10:42: Norris, Leclerc, Hamilton, Hadjar, Piastri, Verstappen, Lindblad, Antonelli, Russell, and Hulkenberg the ten drivers through to Q3, in that order.
10:42: Lawson, Gasly, Colapinto, Bortoleto, Ocon, and Alonso are the six drivers eliminated at the end of Q2.
10:40: Norris purple through all three sectors, and goes P1 with 1:17.456, more than four-tenths ahead of Hadjar in P2.
10:40: Hadjar’s next effort counts, and it’s good for P1. As for Antonelli, his lap has been deleted for exceeding track limits, and he is now in the drop zone.
10:37: Alonso jumps to P10. Unlikely he gets through to Q3, but a big step forward for Aston Martin.
10:36: Five minutes left in Q2. Hamilton, Antonelli, Verstappen, Norris, and Russell the current top five. Lindblad, Leclerc, Piastri, Lawson, and Hulkenberg round out the top ten.
Gasly, Colapinto, Ocon, Alonso, Hadjar, and Bortoleto the drivers in the drop zone. Hadjar and Bortoleto yet to set a time.
10:33: “I’ve got no grip Bono,” reports Antonelli.
10:32: Antonelli rockets to P1 with a 1:18.178. Russell follows but is 0.467 seconds behind Antonelli, only good enough for fourth. Which becomes fifth, after Hamilton snatches P1 with a 1:17.931.
10:31: Hadjar is following Verstappen, dips a wheel into the gravel, and spins at Turn 12.
10:30: Verstappen jumps to P1 with a 1:18.249.
10:29: 11 minutes remain in Q2, and only Alonso has set a time, with a 1:20.696.
10:26: 15 minutes are on the clock, and Q2 is underway. Alonso the first driver out, soaking up the spot in Q2.
10:20: Bearman, Sainz, Albon, Stroll, Bottas, and Pérez are the six drivers out at the end of Q1.
10:13: With five minutes to go in Q1 the six drivers in the drop zone include Bearman, Albon, Sainz, Bottas, Perez, and Bortoleto, who had his time deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 4.
10:11: Norris gets to P1, 0.379 seconds ahead of Verstappen. Banger of a lap.
10:08: Verstappen’s first attempt is a 1:18.656, good for P1.
10:07: Leclerc’s time is deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 3.
10:06: Hamilton pumps in a 1:18.730 on that set of mediums to go P1, Leclerc slots in P2, just 0.148 seconds behind. Also on the mediums.
10:05: Hamilton and Leclerc are out now, but on a set of C4 medium tires.
10:04: Notable: Albon goes 1:21.596, but Stroll is quicker with a 1:20.847, and Alonso is even quicker with a 1:20.665.
10:01: The Williams duo head out first, followed by Bottas.
10:00: Green light at the end of pit lane, 18 minutes on the clock, and Q1 is underway.
9:53: Norris, Antonelli, and Hamilton the three names predicted to take pole on the pre-qualifying show.
9:43: On the pre-qualifying show, James Hinchcliffe taps Audi as the midfield team to break into Q3 today, citing the “consistency” from Audi this week.
We might have quite the qualifying hour ahead of us.
Lando Norris topped the timing sheets in FP3, just ahead of Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli:
With Leclerc fastest in FP1, Hamilton fastest in FP2, and now Norris fastest in FP3, three different drivers led the way over the three practice sessions.
Buckle up, this could be fun.
![The Red Sox proved clutch isn’t real until it saves your season “And I love that dirty water … Boston you’re my ho—” oh, whoops, didn’t see you there. I was, uh, yeah I was celebrating the turnaround of the 2026 Boston Red Sox, I didn’t think I’d have to work today jeez. (takes off hat and Roman Anthony jersey) Oh, you want to know about the streak? Okay, let me get my glasses and then we can talk.(ahem) The Boston Red Sox are on an absolute tear. They’ve gone 20-3 since June 25, won 15 straight games to tie their franchise record streak from the 1940s (!) and have turned around basically every aspect of their 2026 disasterclass to wrest control of the third American League Wild Card spot from the jaws of a confusing game of Musical Chairs/Duck Duck Goose. How on earth did we get here, and what does it all mean?Since they began their fire-breathing rampage through everything in their path, the Red Sox have essentially doubled the offensive output of four players without seeing a major drop-off from anyone they were counting on for runs. Jay Jaffe at FanGraphs explains it all really well here, and has a nice table that shows how four guys — Willson Contreras, Andruw Monasterio, Masataka Yoshida and Caleb Durbin — have seen dramatic spikes in their wRC+ and associated power metrics since June 25.That list doesn’t even really account for the impact of Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela, who have been less consistent but defensively elite with some huge hits in big spots for both. Probably the most dramatic moment of the streak (tied with Caleb Durbin’s home run) was Abreu’s impossible go-ahead two-run shot against the Tampa Bay Rays after Boston had fallen down three. Baseball is funny like that; consistency wins divisions, but at the end of the day, when you need a home run right now… someone needs to hit one right now.In short, this team was “clutch,” a dark word in baseball given that clutch sorta doesn’t exist for teams. Well, it does, and we have clutch stats to back it up: in the last 30 days, the Boston Red Sox are by far the most clutch team (which just calculates how much win probability you add in high-leverage spots) with 4.27 Clutch (wow that sounds weird to say). That is an insane number, and more than doubles Detroit at number two.But for the whole season, Boston has been the opposite of clutch; distinctively, un-clutch, one could say, at -1.31, which 24th in the Majors for the full season which includes this streak. And there’s no evidence that certain teams are “clutch” month over month, year over year or that clutch performances can be used as predictive for future clutch play. Jeff Sullivan wrote a great breakdown of this data in 2018, and I’ll quote from his piece here to illustrate the point:“There’s no historical reason to believe [clutch is] a trait. It’s all just a collection of things that have happened. Things at important times that have wound up deciding ballgames.”That is, in essence, what Boston’s 15-game win streak was about. “Things at important times” decided a number of close ballgames in a row for one team. And while it should not be used to say anything about the 2026 Boston Red Sox being a clutch team (they literally aren’t, see above), the fact that they were clutch for 30 days was the difference between the 2026 season sitting at the bottom of the Boston Harbor to rot for eternity with that tea from 1773 and becoming a buyer at the trade deadline. They brought a crane and fished the season out.For the 2026 Red Sox, clutch does exist; maybe not as a trait, but as an event that happened and is perhaps still happening that had a seismic impact on their destiny, relationship with the city and with each other. “Things at important times” may not be something we can predict, but it still feels pretty darn awesome when they happen. Boston needed exactly that type of run (or at least something close to it) to save a season in which absolutely nothing has gone right. And they did it!Could we have predicted it? Nope! At least not to that extent — I’ve written a lot about these Red Sox, and while they were basically always better than their putrid 32-46 record, the production they’re getting out of Durbin, Yoshida and Monasterio was not the recipe for success I had in the recipe book.If we’re being cold and calculated, Boston will need more talent in this lineup if they’re going to oh I don’t know win the World Series or something ridiculous. Roman Anthony will need to return from the longest and most impossibly torturous Red Sox injury saga since peak Chris Sale, and Garrett Crochet will need to be back for the postseason.Do the Red Sox believe that can happen? If they do, then buyers will be buying. #Red #Sox #proved #clutch #isnt #real #saves #season](https://i1.wp.com/platform.sbnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/gettyimages-2286960459.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C4.1829728399691%2C100%2C78.52202865778&w=1200&ssl=1 "The Red Sox proved clutch isn’t real until it saves your season “And I love that dirty water … Boston you’re my ho—” oh, whoops, didn’t see you there. I was, uh, yeah I was celebrating the turnaround of the 2026 Boston Red Sox, I didn’t think I’d have to work today jeez. (takes off hat and Roman Anthony jersey) Oh, you want to know about the streak? Okay, let me get my glasses and then we can talk.(ahem) The Boston Red Sox are on an absolute tear. They’ve gone 20-3 since June 25, won 15 straight games to tie their franchise record streak from the 1940s (!) and have turned around basically every aspect of their 2026 disasterclass to wrest control of the third American League Wild Card spot from the jaws of a confusing game of Musical Chairs/Duck Duck Goose. How on earth did we get here, and what does it all mean?Since they began their fire-breathing rampage through everything in their path, the Red Sox have essentially doubled the offensive output of four players without seeing a major drop-off from anyone they were counting on for runs. Jay Jaffe at FanGraphs explains it all really well here, and has a nice table that shows how four guys — Willson Contreras, Andruw Monasterio, Masataka Yoshida and Caleb Durbin — have seen dramatic spikes in their wRC+ and associated power metrics since June 25.That list doesn’t even really account for the impact of Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela, who have been less consistent but defensively elite with some huge hits in big spots for both. Probably the most dramatic moment of the streak (tied with Caleb Durbin’s home run) was Abreu’s impossible go-ahead two-run shot against the Tampa Bay Rays after Boston had fallen down three. Baseball is funny like that; consistency wins divisions, but at the end of the day, when you need a home run right now… someone needs to hit one right now.In short, this team was “clutch,” a dark word in baseball given that clutch sorta doesn’t exist for teams. Well, it does, and we have clutch stats to back it up: in the last 30 days, the Boston Red Sox are by far the most clutch team (which just calculates how much win probability you add in high-leverage spots) with 4.27 Clutch (wow that sounds weird to say). That is an insane number, and more than doubles Detroit at number two.But for the whole season, Boston has been the opposite of clutch; distinctively, un-clutch, one could say, at -1.31, which 24th in the Majors for the full season which includes this streak. And there’s no evidence that certain teams are “clutch” month over month, year over year or that clutch performances can be used as predictive for future clutch play. Jeff Sullivan wrote a great breakdown of this data in 2018, and I’ll quote from his piece here to illustrate the point:“There’s no historical reason to believe [clutch is] a trait. It’s all just a collection of things that have happened. Things at important times that have wound up deciding ballgames.”That is, in essence, what Boston’s 15-game win streak was about. “Things at important times” decided a number of close ballgames in a row for one team. And while it should not be used to say anything about the 2026 Boston Red Sox being a clutch team (they literally aren’t, see above), the fact that they were clutch for 30 days was the difference between the 2026 season sitting at the bottom of the Boston Harbor to rot for eternity with that tea from 1773 and becoming a buyer at the trade deadline. They brought a crane and fished the season out.For the 2026 Red Sox, clutch does exist; maybe not as a trait, but as an event that happened and is perhaps still happening that had a seismic impact on their destiny, relationship with the city and with each other. “Things at important times” may not be something we can predict, but it still feels pretty darn awesome when they happen. Boston needed exactly that type of run (or at least something close to it) to save a season in which absolutely nothing has gone right. And they did it!Could we have predicted it? Nope! At least not to that extent — I’ve written a lot about these Red Sox, and while they were basically always better than their putrid 32-46 record, the production they’re getting out of Durbin, Yoshida and Monasterio was not the recipe for success I had in the recipe book.If we’re being cold and calculated, Boston will need more talent in this lineup if they’re going to oh I don’t know win the World Series or something ridiculous. Roman Anthony will need to return from the longest and most impossibly torturous Red Sox injury saga since peak Chris Sale, and Garrett Crochet will need to be back for the postseason.Do the Red Sox believe that can happen? If they do, then buyers will be buying. #Red #Sox #proved #clutch #isnt #real #saves #season")
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