Hungarian GP: Lando Norris bags pole in qualy, disaster for Sergio Perez and George Russell

Lando Norris put in a blistering 1:15.227 to snatch pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix in a McLaren 1-2 with Max Verstappen not going out for a late run after Yuki Tsunoda’s red flag.

On a weekend in which McLaren continue to show incredible pace with the MCL38 sticking to the track, Norris will line up P1 ahead of Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen .

Meanwhile, Sergio Perez and George Russell were the big casualties to fall early in qualifying as the Red Bull driver’s woeful form continued with a Turn 8 crash while Russell didn’t have enough fuel in his W15 for a second flying lap as the track conditions improved.

George Russell and Sergio Perez out in Q1

From sweltering heat to rain, showers broke over the Hungaroring in the build-up to Saturday’s qualifying leaving behind a tricky wet surface. Slicks were still the tyre of choice.

Oscar Piastri was warned one flying lap before more rain, and promptly went P1 with a 1:17.4. The cooler conditions played to Mercedes’ strengths with Lewis Hamilton the next up in P1 with a 1:17 flat.

Meanwhile, Logan Sargeant was the first to bring out the yellow flags as he locked up the front axle into the Turn 1 braking zone, and went nose first into the barrier.

But it was Sergio Perez, in the midst of a wretched run of form, who created Q1’s red flag as the Mexican driver binned it at Turn 8. Taking too much kerb at Turn 7, he spun the car and slammed side-on into the barrier.

As the marshals dealt with Perez’s car, the rain briefly intensified leading to Race Control disabling DRS. Back underway with damp patches here and there only six cars initially ventured out, that up to 17 for the final two minutes with only the Alpines, and Perez, not in action.

As the times tumbled, Daniel Ricciardo went quickest, and Perez, George Russell, who didn’t have enough fuel for a second flying lap as the track improved, Zhou Guanyu and both Alpines found themselves out of qualifying.

Key details: Which drivers are winning their team-mate wars?

👉 F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates

👉 F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Lewis Hamilton survives by 0.010s

The rain abated ahead of Q2, Hamilton went quickest with a 1:16.5 but that was destroyed by Max Verstappen by almost eight-tenths of a second. The Red Bull driver was on a fresh tyres to Hamilton’s used.

As the rest of the top 15 laid down their laps, Verstappen stayed P1 by 0.015s ahead of Piastri with Fernando Alonso third. Valtteri Bottas, Logan Sargeant, Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg and Ricciardo were in the drop zone.

Heading out en masse for a second run, Nico Hulkenberg voiced his frustrations as he was left to wait for the queue to pass before he could move into the fast lane. He crossed the line with 12 seconds to spare to start a flying lap.

Norris improved to top the session’s timesheet while out went Hulkenberg, Valtteri Bottas, Alex Albon, Sargeant and Kevin Magnussen. Hamilton snuck through by 0.010s.

Lando Norris grabs pole, Yuki Tsunoda brings out the red flags

Verstappen was the first driver out in Q3, told by Red Bull he wouldn’t have a tow but with rain on the horizon this could be the lap. A 1:15.555 for the reigning World Champion. That, though, wasn’t enough to hold off the charging Norris who crossed the line with a 1:15.227.

Piastri was P3 after the first run ahead of Charles Leclerc and Hamilton. The Aussie was the first to head out for a second run, up in the first sector and went second fastest. But then came Verstappen, purple in the first and on a flier… and Yuki Tsunoda crashed.

The VCARB driver crashed heavily as he came out of Turn 5, getting a bit high and wide and getting onto the grass. Losing control of his VCARB01, he hit the barrier hard doing significant left side damage.

The red flag was out with 2:13 on the clock. And so the wait at the end of the pit lane began, Red Bull not including Verstappen nor Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso. Norris, Hamilton, Piastri led the queue at the restart. Carlos Sainz didn’t make it across the line in time to start a flying lap.

Norris pitted, Hamilton didn’t improve, Piastri pitted, and Ricciardo moved up from 10th to ninth.

Times

1 Lando NORRIS 1:15.227
2 Oscar PIASTRI +0.022
3 Max VERSTAPPEN +0.046
4 Carlos SAINZ +0.469
5 Lewis HAMILTON +0.627
6 Charles LECLERC +0.678
7 Fernando ALONSO +0.816
8 Lance STROLL +1.017
9 Daniel RICCIARDO +1.220
10 Yuki TSUNODA +1.250

11 Nico HULKENBERG 1:16.317
12 Valtteri BOTTAS 1:16.384
13 Alexander ALBON 1:16.429
14 Logan SARGEANT 1:16.543
15 Kevin MAGNUSSEN 1:16.548
16 Sergio PEREZ 1:17.886
17 George RUSSELL 1:17.968
18 Guanyu ZHOU 1:18.037
19 Esteban OCON 1:18.049
20 Pierre GASLY 1:18.166

Read next: Follow PlanetF1.com’s WhatsApp channel for all the F1 breaking news!