Lewis Hamilton pips Max Verstappen by 0.003s to claim first pole since December 2021; Lando Norris third for McLaren; watch the Hungarian GP live on Sky Sports F1 on Sunday, lights out is at 2pm; F1 Juniors will be live on Sky Showcase and Sky Sports Mix from 1.30pm
Saturday 22 July 2023 22:07, UK
Lewis Hamilton produced a stunning final qualifying lap to snatch pole position from Max Verstappen at the Hungarian GP.
Hamilton produced a 1:16.609 with his final effort to claim pole by just 0.003s after Verstappen had been unable to improve on his initial provisional pole time.
It gives Hamilton a record ninth pole position at the Hungarian GP and his first since the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP, 33 races ago.
Hamilton's former title rival Verstappen will line up second having been denied a sixth consecutive pole by the barest of margins.
"It's been a crazy year and a half. I've lost my voice from shouting so much in the car!" Hamilton said.
"It's amazing that feeling. I feel so grateful to be up here because the team have worked so hard. We have been pushing so hard over this time to get pole. It feels like the first time."
Lando Norris will start third on Sunday and was just 0.085s off Hamilton's pole time, with team-mate Oscar Piastri alongside him as McLaren locked out the second row to continue their fine form.
While Hamilton will line up in P1, Mercedes team-mate George Russell - last year's pole sitter - starts 18th after being the big-name exit of Q1.
Carlos Sainz had lined up alongside Russell on the front row last year but the Ferrari driver will start 11th on Sunday after missing out on a place in Q3 by 0.002s.
Sainz was knocked out by team-mate Charles Leclerc, who will start sixth between the two Alfa Romeos as Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas impressed to take fifth and seventh respectively.
Sergio Perez ended his run of missing out on Q3, but was unable to ever be in contention for pole and will start ninth, behind Fernando Alonso and ahead of Nico Hulkenberg.
Daniel Ricciardo will start 13th on his F1 return as he outqualified AlphaTauri team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, who exited in Q1 and will start 17th.
Hungarian GP Qualifying result
1) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
3) Lando Norris, McLaren
4) Oscar Piastri, McLaren
5) Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo
6) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
7) Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
8) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
9) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
10) Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
Hamilton's ninth pole position at the Hungaroring is the most by an F1 driver at a single track.
The Briton had appeared a contender for pole after topping Practice Three, but was in danger of making a Q1 exit as he found himself in the drop zone with just a couple of minutes left.
But after escaping the drop and easing through Q2, the Mercedes W14 again came alive on the soft tyre.
Verstappen had appeared on course to continue his streak of consecutive poles as he led Q3 after the first runs, with Hamilton a tenth off the Dutchman.
But the Red Bull driver could not improve his time after poor first and last sectors which opened the door to those behind.
Norris was unable to beat Verstappen's time, but Hamilton set personal bests throughout the lap and was a tenth up on the Red Bull by the end of the second sector which gave him enough breathing space to hold on and claim a 104th pole.
"Get in there, let's go boys," Hamilton shouted over team radio as he crossed the line.
Hamilton has claimed eight wins at the Hungaroring in his F1 career and would also set a record for most wins at a single track if he can turn pole into victory on Sunday.
The 38-year-old said of his chances: "I have to see if I can sleep tonight!
"Tomorrow, we will study as hard as we can, bring our A-game.
"It will be difficult to fight these two guys - Lando has been doing a mega job, it's been great to see McLaren up there and Max, you know Max, he's always up there doing his thing."
Verstappen missing out on pole was despite Red Bull bringing an extensive upgrade to the RB19, and while he feels the upgrades are working, the Dutchman thinks the team have been off their usual high standards this weekend.
"We're still second, but I think we should be ahead with the car we have normally, but so far this weekend I think we haven't been on it," Verstappen said.
"I think the update works, but I think we just really didn't put everything together setup wise because I just think today everything has just been all over the shop and not exactly where we wanted to be."
Norris was left rueing little mistakes he felt he had made which cost him a shot at pole.
"I'm disappointed. If you're within a tenth of pole it feels like you should be on pole if you put the lap together," the McLaren driver said.
"As a driver I'm not the happiest, I feel I made too many mistakes and it cost me today."
This qualifying session saw Formula 1's 'Alternative Tyre Allocation' format trialled for the first time which left drivers restricted to the hard tyre in Q1, medium tyre in Q2 and soft tyre in Q3.
That resulted in a frantic opening two parts of qualifying as drivers circulated multiple times as the track ramped up.
In the closing stages of Q1 Hamilton, Leclerc, Sainz, Norris and Russell all found themselves in danger at various points but it was last year's pole sitter Russell who made the early exit.
The Mercedes driver found himself in a traffic jam, his position not helped by Norris overtaking him into the final corner of his preparation lap as Russell looked to build a gap to team-mate Hamilton ahead.
A poor sector one proved costly for Russell as he recorded his worst-ever qualifying result in Hungary and his exit prompted Toto Wolff to slam his desk in frustration.
"The whole session we were out of sync with everybody," Russell told Sky Sports F1.
"I got overtaken by four cars going into the last corner, starting my lap. I was three tenths down before I got to Turn 1, the tyres were nowhere and it was totally normal that we went slower and didn't make it through.
"Really disappointed. We didn't need to take so many risks. We went out for one lap at the end, one of the few cars that did that."
And his fellow front-row starter last year Sainz was the big casualty of the second part of qualifying as he lost out to compatriot Alonso by just 0.002s.
It was Ferrari team-mate Leclerc who knocked out Sainz as the Monegasque jumped from P13 to P6 with his last-gasp effort.
The big story coming into the weekend had been Ricciardo's return to AlphaTauri in place of Nyck de Vries.
And the Australian immediately performed to outqualify Tsunoda and deliver the team bottom of the Constructors' Championship their best qualifying result since May's Monaco GP.
Ricciardo twice improved his best time late in Q1 to avoid the drop zone and beat Tsunoda by 0.013s to get into the second segment, and then finished ahead of Lance Stroll's Aston Martin and Alpine's Pierre Gasly.
"The result is not everything but it was just so important for me coming back and feeling comfortable," Ricciardo told Sky Sports F1.
"Just getting that enjoyment back. I felt that last week in the test, it was a bit of a relief.
"It just felt fun again and that's what I was looking for coming here. It was cool again.
"There's probably more for me to learn and process tomorrow.
"Points would be phenomenal but for now... logging the laps and learn as I go."
