Lando Norris heads all-McLaren front-row in Hungary as Sergio Perez’s woes continue
Lando Norris heads McLaren front row lockout in Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying, reports Lewis Larkam from Budapest.
Lando Norris spearheaded McLaren's first front row lockout in qualifying in 12 years at the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix, as Sergio Perez’s recent woes continued.
Norris pipped McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri by just 0.022s to claim his third pole position in a thrilling and tight qualifying session threatened by light rain. It marks the first time since Brazil 2012 that McLaren’s cars have finished first and second in qualifying.
"Very, very happy," Norris said in parc ferme. "Not an easy qualifying, different conditions like that, but always ending up on top is the best part of it all. Especially for the team, a one-two is even better, so congrats to the team.
"We have already got confidence, so it's not like we need a lot more of it or we are searching for it. We have come into this weekend off the back of the last few happy and confident we can do a good job and we have a good car to fight for pole, which is what we did today.
"We are in the best position for whatever the conditions throw at us. Two cars at the front row, we can control it from there, so as long as we stay where we are we'll be happy."
Max Verstappen was only 0.046s down on Norris’ pole time as he had to settle with third place on the grid in his upgraded Red Bull.
Meanwhile, his Red Bull teammate Perez suffered his latest qualifying nightmare.
Under increasing pressure to retain his seat, the Mexican slammed into the Turn 8 barriers after spinning off in damp conditions during Q1.
Perez could take no further part in the session and will start no higher than 16th pending any penalties for damage.
Carlos Sainz was fourth-fastest, some four tenths adrift, ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in fifth and Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.
Fernando Alonso headed Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll in seventh, with the RB duo of Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda rounding out the top-10 in a rare double Q3 appearance.
A heavy crash for Tsunoda caused Q3 to be red-flagged with just over two minutes left on the clock, but only Ricciardo could improve his time with the session eventually restarted.
Nico Hulkenberg missed out on a spot in Q3 by just 0.010s as he took 11th for Haas, ahead of Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas.
The Williams pair of Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant were 13th and 14th, with Kevin Magnussen 15th in the other Haas.
George Russell suffered a shock Q1 elimination after a scruffy session left him only 17th on the grid.
The Mercedes driver could not find the improvement he needed in the tricky conditions before others around him found more time in the dying moments of the session.
“Yeah, sorry about this session guys. It’s on me,” Russell conceded over team radio.
Zhou Guanyu was 18th for Sauber, ahead of the Alpine duo of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, who ended up slowest of all after a decision to stay in the pits for the final laps backfired spectacularly.
