Hungarian GP Qualifying: Lando Norris snatches pole before Lewis Hamilton penalty shuffles grid order
Lando Norris claims his first pole position of the season; McLaren driver edged out Lewis Hamilton, who was later demoted by a grid penalty; Kimi Antonelli to start third;watch Sunday's race at 2pm with build-up from 12.30pm, live on Sky Sports F1 and Main Event
Saturday 25 July 2026 18:06, UK
McLaren’s Lando Norris snatched Hungarian Grand Prix pole from Lewis Hamilton before the Ferrari driver was later demoted from second on the grid by a penalty for impeding.
Hamilton appeared to be on course to claim his first Grand Prix pole since the same event three years ago when he was a tenth clear of Norris after the first runs in Q3, but the McLaren driver found improvement as his rivals struggled on the second run to edge 12 thousandths of a second clear of his compatriot.
It turned out that Norris would have claimed pole regardless, as Hamilton was later demoted from second to fifth on the grid by a penalty incurred for impeding the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri during Q3.
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Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who leads Hamilton by 45 points at the top of the Drivers' Championship, had finished fourth behind the other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc as the Silver Arrows' streak of 10 poles to start the season came to an end, but both drivers move a place up the grid as a result of the seven-time world champion's penalty.
Piastri earns a promotion to fourth, but Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who spun at the final corner on his final flying lap, stays where he ended the session in sixth.
George Russell's struggles continued as he finished seventh, with further concern arising when his Mercedes suffered a power unit issue and broke down on his in-lap at the end of the session.
Antonelli also remains at risk of a grid penalty as he awaits the outcome of a post-session investigations for not sufficiently slowing as he approached yellow flags warning him of Verstappen's spin.
A 17th career pole for reigning world champion Norris is his first since the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November last year, and comes on a weekend where McLaren brought a significant upgrade package to a car that had largely underwhelmed to this point in 2026.
Norris said: "A tough qualifying. These guys [Ferrari] were very quick. It's been tight the whole weekend but we seemed quick from the first laps we did and we brought a few upgrades.
"It's hard to know how much it helps in terms of lap time but it certainly helped today. Very happy to be back on top, especially at a track where you certainly want to be on pole."
British rookie Arvid Lindblad continued his strong form for Racing Bulls by claiming ninth, while Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top 10 for Audi.
Fernando Alonso provided some encouragement for Aston Martin as he took advantage of his heavily upgraded car to get the team into Q2 for the first time this season.
While Alonso will start from 16th after finishing last in Q2, the performance indicates progress ahead of another huge weekend for Aston Martin following the summer break at the Dutch Grand Prix when their engine supplier Honda will also bring a significant upgrade.
Sky Sports F1's Hungarian GP schedule
Sunday July 26
7.35am: F3 Feature Race
9.05am: Porsche Supercup
10.20am: F2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Hungarian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
2pm: THE HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Hungarian GP reaction: Chequered Flag*
5pm: Ted's Notebook*
*Also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 is in Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix with Sunday's race at 2pm and build-up from 12.30pm, live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime
