Lando Norris Takes Hungarian Grand Prix Pole, Edging Lewis Hamilton by 12 Thousandths

Norris steals Hungary pole

Lando Norris snatched pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring, edging Lewis Hamilton by 12 thousandths of a second after a late improvement in Q3. Speedway Digest said Norris clocked a lap of 1:17.207 on his final qualifying run, beating Hamilton and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in a tightly contested session.

Sky Sports reported that Hamilton was later demoted from second on the grid by a penalty for impeding the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri during Q3. The same Sky Sports report said Norris would be joined on the front row by Charles Leclerc after the grid penalties were applied, with Kimi Antonelli also receiving a three-place grid penalty.

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Penalties and quoted reactions

Norris described the qualifying as difficult but said he was "Very happy to be back on top" after beating Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton for Hungary pole.

Sky Sports quoted Norris saying, "A tough qualifying. These guys [Ferrari] were very quick," as it detailed how Hamilton’s provisional pole was overturned by the impeding investigation.

Hamilton’s penalty was tied to impeding Piastri in Q3, while Sky Sports also said Antonelli’s three-place demotion came after failing to sufficiently slow under yellow flags.

The Guardian’s live blog framed the moment as Norris producing a supreme run to claim pole, while it also noted that the session hinged on the yellow flags for Verstappen’s spin.

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What changes for Sunday

With Hamilton demoted from second to fifth after the impeding penalty, Sky Sports said he would start from 5th on the grid, while Leclerc would line up on the front row. Sky Sports reported that Kimi Antonelli, who finished fourth in qualifying, would start from seventh after also incurring a three-place grid penalty for failing to sufficiently slow under yellow flags.

Speedway Digest said tire degradation was higher than expected and that Pirelli Motorsport Director Dario Marrufuschi told viewers that "Our simulations show no difference in overall race time between a one-stop and a two-stop strategy." In the same Speedway Digest account, Marrufuschi added that the situation remained open and that it would not be surprising to see different strategies even between drivers from the same team as the race approached.

Reporting for this sectionSky SportSpeedway Digest