Contrary to expectations, it’s not the towering favourite McLaren, but Ferrari that will start from pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc pulled off a blisteringly fast lap in his SF-25, a feat that he himself can hardly believe. From the starting grid, the Monegasque’s car is just a red dot on the horizon for Max Verstappen, who will start from a disappointing eighth place.
McLaren dominated every practice session on the short and twisty circuit near Budapest. The question wasn’t whether McLaren would take pole, but which of the two drivers would do it. That was until the wind started to play a role in Q3 of the qualifiers, and Leclerc impressively clocked the fastest time. In the end, Oscar Piastri was the fastest McLaren driver, meaning the Australian will take his place next to Leclerc on the front row.
In P3, we find Lando Norris, flanked by George Russell’s Mercedes. So far, a fairly standard grid. But then it gets interesting with Aston Martin on the third row. The green brigade, who didn’t get further than the last row in Belgium, are now experiencing a high point in the closing race of the first half of the season, with Fernando Alonso in P5 and Lance Stroll in P6.
There was also celebration in the Sauber garage after the qualifiers. Gabriel Bortoleto qualified seventh, the best position of the season for the Swiss team. If the Brazilian looks over his right shoulder on the starting grid, he will see the reigning world champion in P8. Verstappen has been struggling with the balance of the RB21 all weekend and felt as if he was driving on ice.
Hamilton Despondent
The top ten is rounded off by both Racing Bulls, with Liam Lawson at P9 and Isack Hadjar at P10. Yuki Tsunoda was unable to follow up his strong qualifying performance in Belgium and will start the Hungarian Grand Prix from a disappointing sixteenth position.
Other major disappointments on the starting grid are, just like in Spa, Kimi Antonelli (P15) and Lewis Hamilton (P12). The seven-time world champion was particularly disheartened after the session. While his teammate was celebrating with the mechanics, the Brit expressed feeling useless and suggested the team might be better off replacing him with another driver.
Can Hamilton turn things around and fight his way forward today, or will he truly throw in the towel? We’ll find out from 13:00 UTC, when the Hungarian Grand Prix gets underway.
