BUDAPEST, HUNGARY – JULY 25: Pole position qualifier Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren celebrates on arrival in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Hungary at Hungaroring on July 25, 2026 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Formula 1 via Getty Images
Lando Norris of McLaren topped the timesheet in Saturday’s qualifying at the Hungarian Grand Prix, securing his first pole position of the season.
The defending champion clocked a lap time of 1m 17.207s on his final attempt, enough to beat Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton to pole by only twelve thousandths of a second.
After claiming a front-row start, Hamilton was later handed a three-place grid penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri’s McLaren, which dropped him down to fifth on the grid.
The penalty moved Charles Leclerc up into second place for Ferrari, with Piastri in third and Max Verstappen of Red Bull starting in fourth after initially netting sixth.
Current championship leader Kimi Antonelli has also been penalized with a three-place grid penalty for not slowing sufficiently for the yellow flags triggered by Verstappen’s spin at the final corner.
The Italian youngster lost his original fourth place to start seventh on the grid behind his Mercedes teammate George Russell.
Isack Hadjar qualified eighth for Red Bull, with Arvid Lindblad of Racing Bulls and Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg rounding out the top 10 qualifiers.
Hungarian Grand Prix 2026 Starting Grid
Here’s the starting order for Sunday’s race at Hungaroring with penalties applied:
- Lando Norris (McLaren): 1:17.207
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): +0.238
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren): +0.477
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull): +0.518
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
- George Russell (Mercedes): +0.553
- Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
- Isack Hadjar (Red Bull): +0.649
- Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls): +1.074
- Nico Hulkenberg (Audi): +1.479
- Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls): +1.558
- Pierre Gasly (Alpine): +1.637
- Franco Colapinto (Alpine): +1.820
- Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi): +1.898
- Esteban Ocon (Haas): +2.527
- Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin): +2.601
- Oliver Bearman (Haas): +3.026
- Carlos Sainz (Williams): +3.414
- Alexander Albon (Williams): +3.451
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin): +3.452
- Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac): +3.679
- Sergio Perez (Cadillac): +4.115
The Hungarian Grand Prix race starts at 3 p.m. local time (CEST) on Sunday, July 26.