Qualifying Highlights | 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix

To the drop zone. Carlos Sainz on a personal best. Sector 1, Sector 2, Sector 3. Leaps up to 16th. That's going to be under pressure. Starting with his teammate. Alex Albon can't get there. He's been out qualified by Carlos Sainz for the fifth round in a row after that moment. Bortoletto finding the pace that he needs but he needs a clean lap. Big pressure on the Brazilian driver who will believe he's capable of points and there's a lap to show you. It's P9 for him as he escapes the drop zone. Ocon gets up to 13th. So we know the Williams will fall at the first hurdle. Gasly now needs a response as well. So two Alpines trying to shuffle Fernando Alonso out but Alonso is out there and improving and I'll tell you what, Behrmann's lap is not amazing to drag himself clear either. Liam Lawson, the New Zealander, around the 14th and final turn. Stays in 10th position. Hülkenberg will be next to cut the beam and improves up to P6. That Audi is working well. Now the Cadillac drivers in a battle with each other at this stage. Stroll has a small improvement in the middle sector as well coming up to finish the lap. Okay, Bottas finds himself in 21st and Perez can't get him. Improvement sector one, sector two for Fernando Alonso. Can he finally leap forward into the next part of qualifying? He's competitive again in Formula One. Gasly, one-time Grand Prix winner. Hustling the car to 13th. Now it's Colopinto versus Olli Behrmann. Behrmann has completed his lap. Colopinto stands on the throttle, heads for the line and heads for 14th position. Behrmann finds himself out in the first part of qualifying and Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin have something to smile about All right, good job. Maybe a bit more to come the next set. Let's go. Yeah, let's go. Behrmann, Sainz, Albon, Stroll, Bottas and Perez are the six drivers who will be taking no further part. Three-tenths down on Verstappen overall and once again carry huge speed. Too much speed and he spins! And Isaac Hadjar trying to hang on to the red ball dips a wheel in the gravel and is spun into the grass. Hülkenberg, Gasly, Colopinto, Ocon, Antonelli and this man Bortoletto who gets to P9. Antonelli easily has the pace to do it he just needs to now hope that no one throws it off the road in the final sector ahead of him. But crucially the final sector has been tough. It has been mistake-inducing all the way through this weekend. He is currently making his way around the final corner. Here's Norris across the line and he goes fastest of anyone so far by some margin as well. So he's dialed into the track. This is just going to be we're going to be taken right to the end of the last part of qualifying aren't we? And Antonelli found his way through. Antonelli ahead of Russell but crucially kept it within the white lines. Charles Leclerc is now 11th so Leclerc now is the man that needs the final sector. He's in it now and he is putting it together. Two corners to go for Charles. Improvement sector one and sector two. Gasly won't get there. Lawson is on the brink at the moment. What about Colopinto? Not been an easy weekend for Alpine. Now Charles Leclerc completing the lap. Big pressure lap for Charles Leclerc who goes into second place. It is Lawson, Gasly, Colopinto, Bortoletto, Ocon and Alonso. Piastri in the middle part of the lap has been great as well. Can Norris do that again? He can. He's fast there as well. Time to beat 1.17.7 as Verstappen crosses the line. Next up Oscar Piastri has made his way out of the final corner and he goes ahead of Verstappen. What's the grip like for Lando Norris who has been flying throughout the other corners of this lap? There's the correction. There's another one. Does it lose him time? No. He's ahead of his teammate by three tenths of a second but Hamilton is rapid. Trust me that must have lost him time. He went fractionally early for the gas, had to get out of it and went again. It's an almighty lap from Norris but there will be a little bit more in there and will we see Lewis Hamilton piece it together? Two sectors, one tenth away but the Ferrari is mighty in these final three corners. Okay, Lindblad goes behind Hadja, Verstappen and then it's Piastri and Norris. Is the tyre temp there for the nine-time Grand Prix pole position holder around this racetrack? He's on the limit off the front but it's sweet. Hamilton to the front of the field by a tenth of a second. Here's Charles Leclerc trying to respond to his teammate and Charles Leclerc goes into third place. What will the Mercedes pair do? Antonelli, only P4. Does that give a chance to George Russell? Looking for grip, correcting across the line he goes and he's in seventh position. Not too far away from his teammate but half a second away from the ultimate pace. Looking across the board, the only driver who's put in a personal best in the first sector, championship leader Kimi Antonelli. The Ferraris of Verstappen unable to do so. Now I wonder if it's, oh Hamilton's sliding massively. This lap is going away and gone so having ruled out Kimi Antonelli he is on a decent one halfway through this one. Leclerc's not challenging either and Norris is just starting his flying lap now. Russell a tenth slower than Antonelli. Hamilton over the line. Hamilton has provisional pole but is he vulnerable after failing to find an improvement? Charles Leclerc has been fighting that car all the way round. Left hand side I'm watching Kimi Antonelli because he is putting together. Oh Max Verstappen goes round and will it be yellow flags for Antonelli who goes around the final corner now and crosses the line. Kimi Antonelli to the line and he stays in fourth position. Well he did improve. Russell's completely stuck there behind Max Verstappen. I don't know if his lap was any good anyway. What a bizarre end to this qualifying hour. Can Norris find something to put the pressure on and take his first Grand Prix pole of the year? Lewis Hamilton currently on provisional pole. Can he get a clean exit this time? It's Lando Norris to the line. It's Lando Norris to pole position by one hundredth of a second. Wow. Tiny margins again in Budapest. Yeah. Gorgeous. Go. Well done boys and girls. Thank you very much. Russell comes to a halt. The driver in third of the championship parking up at turn one. He's body language furious. So stop stop stop stop stop stop stop. Yeah so Verstappen I think is just chancing his arm. That is not to do with the similar run of spins he's had in Austria and Silverstone. There is not an active aero straight mode zone there. Right. Lewis is getting three places I'm afraid. That is a slam dunk. That is really sloppy. A sarcastic thumbs up from from Oscar. Let's listen in to this one then because this is the other one that's under investigation. I think you'll get away with it. Yeah. I think you'll get away with it. There wasn't the... I think it's the bumps in the circuit that made it look like it was oversteering more from the outside and I think you can hear the lift. Not dissimilar to Russell. Norris in a great battle with Lewis Hamilton beating by one hundredth of a second. Charles Leclerc in third. Kimi Antonelli in fourth and then it's Piastri and Verstappen. Russell ahead of Hadjar and then Arvid Lindblad and Nico Hülkenberg completed the top 10.