With just a few moments before the qualifying start, we received the official confirmation that Hungary has extended its Formula 1 contract to continue hosting races at the Hungaroring until 2032. Confirmation of the extension adds five years to the circuit’s current deal, which was set to run until 2027. The new agreement follows an announcement that the Hungaroring will undergo significant development and refurbishment in the coming years, including a new pit building and main grandstand.
The race has been a permanent fixture on the F1 calendar since becoming a part of the schedule in 1986, and remains hugely popular among drivers.
We hadn’t even seen the Alternate Tyre Allocation yet, and it had a massive influence on the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend. The main upshot was that there was huge uncertainty going into Qualifying as to what was going to happen. The fact that teams needed to use all three tyre compounds appeared to have the potential to cause an early upset.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton showed some hugely impressive pace on the soft tyres that Q3 was scheduled to be run on to boost hopes of a first pole position since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Qualifying was therefore under way in Budapest! Hard tyres only for Q1 with this new format, so tyre warm-up was critical. The Alpine drivers of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon led the cars out of the pit lane. Sergio Perez set the benchmark time of a 1:19.292, which was 1.4 seconds slower than the fastest time from Final Practice. We then had a surprise as Alfa Romeo continued to impress with Valtteri Bottas at the top of the time sheets from Max Verstappen. The Mercedes came out a little later than everyone but George Russell went third and Lewis Hamilton was fourth. Solid laps from the pair but other drivers were also setting personal best sectors. Some drivers pitted and some were still out on track, including Max Verstappen who was now fastest on a 1:18.658.
We were not quite sure what exactly he was talking about, but Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc sent a slightly concerning messaging over team radio: “Let’s stay calm, but come on,” the Monegasque told his team. It was most likely a reaction to Ferrari’s early lack of pace, which left him 15th with six minutes of the session remaining.
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A superb lap from Zhou Guanyu put him top of the time sheets. The Alfa Romeos were flying on the hard tyres. Charles Leclerc was now fourth after a solid lap, while Lando Norris was second but has his lap deleted for track limits at Turn 5. Mercedes were not exactly playing it safe in the final minutes of Q1. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were heading back out on track with little over two minutes to go. Hamilton was in the drop zone, and Russell in P14, which meant they needed to improve to make it through to Q2.
Mercedes left it late and while Lewis Hamilton got himself out of the drop zone, Russell remained 18th, as Toto Wolff slammed his fist on the table. Alex Albon (Williams), Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), George Russell (Mercedes), Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and Logan Sargeant (Williams) were out in Q1. Replays showed George Russell was overtaken by three cars as he approached the final corner to begin his flying lap. He tried to create a gap to the car in front, so was going slowly, but driver after driver took advantage of that to overtake him.
Q2 was under way at the Hungaroring! Medium tyres only for this segment of Qualifying. Once again, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were among the first out on track again. It was a 1:17.675 from Sergio Perez, which was 0.400s quicker than Esteban Ocon. Sergio Perez’s time was the fastest lap of the weekend so far, but a few moments later Max Verstappen went fastest with a 1:17.296, which was quicker than last year’s pole position time. Lando Norris went second and only 0.032s behind the Dutchman.
However, Max Verstappen was at the top of the timesheet no longer…The world championship leader lost his first flying lap time for running off track at Turn 5. He still had plenty of time to put that right, but at this stafe Lando Norris was fastest. The top 10 was Norris, Piastri, Perez, Alonso, Hamilton, Zhou, Leclerc, Sainz, Hulkenberg and Ocon, with 7 minutes to go in Q2.
Daniel Ricciardo was still going well! After the first runs, he was in 12th and just a tenth or so of a place in Q3. This meant that at this stage he was outpacing Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll, which was a good effort in itself. Red Bull were taking no chances by sending Max Verstappen out on new medium tyres with five minutes to go in the session. He was the only driver on track at that moment and just needed a solid lap to get into the final part of Qualifying.
Drama at the end of the session as Carlos Sainz was knocked out of Qualifying. The margins were so tight this afternoon as the Spaniard misses out by 0.002s. Fernando Alonso just hanged onto 10th place, while it was Charles Leclerc’s last ditch effort which eliminated his Maranello teammate. Lando Norris, who didn’t come out for another run, finishes fastest in Q2.
Sergio Perez was finally released at the end of the pit lane as the green light was on. He was quickly joined by the other nine drivers through to Q3. It was a 1:17.142 from Sergio Perez but other cars were coming to the end of their flying laps: Lando Norris went into the 1:16s with a 1:16.904 to go fastest from Fernando Alonso. Charles Leclerc went fourth behind Perez. Then Max Verstappen went fastest by 0.126s from Lewis Hamilton. The pair matched each other in the middle sector but the Dutchman edged his rival out in the first and final sectors.
Interestingly the cars were coming out early with the Red Bulls towards the front of the queue and Lewis Hamilton at the back of the field. Theoretically, the British driver would have the very best track conditions, but a yellow flag or red flag would scupper his pole position chances. Max Verstappen didn’t improve his lap so there was a small chance for Hamilton. Lando Norris went second though and missed out on pole position by 0.082s. And in the end Lewis Hamilton did it! He stole pole position by 0.003s from Max Verstappen. It’s the most pole positions at a single track (9) by a driver in Formula 1.
A difficult Saturday afternoon for Ferrari at the Hungaroring Circuit: Charles Leclerc finished the qualifying session in P6, while his Maranello teammate will start the Hungarian Grand Prix from outside the top ten.
