Norris snatches pole from Hamilton in F1 Hungarian GP qualifying
Reigning Formula 1 champion Lando Norris snatched Hungarian Grand Prix pole position from Lewis Hamilton by just 0.012 seconds.
Hamilton was a tenth clear after the opening Q3 runs, and looked in good shape for his 10th Hungaroring pole in F1 as many drivers, including himself, struggled unexpectedly on the second runs.
But Norris was not among those - and after Hamilton came across the line with no improvement, Norris clocked in a tenth and a bit quicker than he had gone before, which was just enough to pick off the seven-time champion and become the first driver not racing for Mercedes to bag a pole position this season.
And Hamilton is under investigation for having potentially impeded the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri at Turn 1, Piastri's lap an immediate write-off as a result of their encounter.
There was no second-run improvement either for Hamilton's Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, but that initial effort - two tenths off Hamilton's - was enough for third.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen spun on his final try, so both Mercedes drivers encountered yellow flags - with Kimi Antonelli fourth in the end and George Russell only seventh, though Russell's car stopped shortly after crossing the line while Antonelli is under investigation for the way he drove through that yellow flag zone.
Verstappen himself placed sixth - one place behind Piastri and two ahead of Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar, who - having spun during Q2 but subsequently advanced with ease - couldn't improve on his initial used-tyre time with new rubber.
Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) and Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) completed the Q3 order.
After placing in the top 10 in every practice, Liam Lawson was on the wrong end of the Q3 cut-off, but did at least pick up 11th over the Alpine duo of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto (two tenths apart).
Gabriel Bortoleto lost his first lap in Q2 to yellow flags for the Hadjar spin, then struggled in his final attempt, apologising to Audi for a "very bad lap" that put him 14th.
Esteban Ocon was the lead Haas in 15th, though told his Haas team there was "a high chance I broke the floor in Turn 3" at the conclusion of Q2.
He ended up 0.07s up on Fernando Alonso, who made his and Aston Martin's first appearance in any Q2 session this season.
Alonso had made a sprint Q2 back in Canada, but this came after he'd crashed in sprint Q1, so he took no part in the actual running.
Ocon's Haas team-mate Ollie Bearman was the driver eliminated by Alonso's late Q1 improvement, consigned to 17th place as he'd lapped two tenths off Ocon.
The two Williams drivers were nowhere near making the second segment, as Carlos Sainz squeaked past Alex Albon by 0.04s, the latter ranting on team radio after his elimination about the wayward Williams car balance.
The Cadillacs slotted onto the last row of the grid, behind Lance Stroll, as Valtteri Bottas outpaced team-mate Sergio Perez for the third race in a row.
Results
1 Lando Norris (McLaren) 1m17.207s
2 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.012s
3 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.238s
4 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.272s
5 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.477s
6 Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) +0.518s
7 George Russell (Mercedes) +0.553s
8 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull Racing) +0.649s
9 Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +1.074s
10 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) +1.479s
11 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +0.126s to Q3
12 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +0.205s
13 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +0.388s
14 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +0.466s
15 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +1.095s
16 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +1.169s
17 Ollie Bearman (Haas) +0.107s to Q2
18 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +0.495s
19 Alex Albon (Williams) +0.532s
20 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +0.533s
21 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) +0.760s
22 Sergio Perez (Cadillac) +1.196s
