McLaren’s Oscar Piastri beaten into second by 0.026sec
Lando Norris on second row alongside George Russell
For so long this season Ferrari have looked to take their place at the front of the grid but when they finally did so at the Hungarian Grand Prix, it was with an extraordinary contrast in fortunes. Lewis Hamilton was left berating his own performance as “useless” and doubting his own ability as he was knocked out in Q2 before his teammate Charles Leclerc celebrated taking the Scuderia’s first pole of the campaign.
For all that Ferrari will be buoyed by Leclerc’s remarkable run in a tight contest at the Hungaroring – where he beat the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris into second and third and with the top four cars separated by four-hundredths of a second – it was a disconsolate Hamilton that captured the attention.
The seven-time champion is the most successful driver here with a record nine poles and eight wins. He has weaved his way around the tight, complex challenge in Budapest with such success in the past it might almost be considered second nature.
