Lando Norris secured McLaren’s first Grand Prix pole position of the 2026 Formula 1 season after snatching top spot from Lewis Hamilton by just 0.012 seconds in a thrilling qualifying session for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

“Very happy to be back on top,” Norris said. “A tough qualifying. These guys [Ferrari] were very quick. It’s been tight the whole weekend but we seemed quick from the first laps we did and we brought a few upgrades. It’s hard to know how much it helps in terms of lap time but it certainly helped today. Very happy to be back on top, especially at a track where you certainly want to be on pole.”

Hamilton looked set to claim pole after setting the benchmark on the opening runs in Q3, but the Ferrari driver was unable to improve on his final attempt as Norris produced a lap of 1:17.207 to snatch the top spot. Charles Leclerc completed the top three, just over two tenths off the pace.

The closing moments of the session brought plenty of drama. Max Verstappen spun at the final corner, briefly bringing out yellow flags just as several drivers were completing their final flying laps. Both Mercedes drivers were forced to lift, with George Russell appearing to lose the most time before suffering a suspected water leak that brought his car to a halt at Turn 1, triggering double yellow flags. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli still secured fourth ahead of Oscar Piastri, Verstappen, Russell, Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad and Audi’s Nico Hülkenberg, who rounded out the top 10.

Hamilton’s second-place finish was also under scrutiny at the time of writing, with the seven-time world champion under investigation for allegedly impeding Piastri. It is understood Hamilton was travelling slowly on the racing line approaching Turn 1 after completing a lap while the McLaren driver was beginning a flying lap.

Hamilton admitted Ferrari had the pace to fight for pole but felt the team’s strategy on the final runs may not have worked in their favour.

“Firstly congratulations to Lando, it was a great lap,” Hamilton said. “We have been doing a great job all weekend. I felt solid throughout qualifying and, for some reason, we went out first, which I don’t think was the right call. But then, on top of that, just the grip for some reason wasn’t there on that last lap for both Charles and I. It’s obviously a track that I love. We’re obviously competitive but I think tomorrow is going to be a hard day.”

Leclerc echoed Hamilton’s view that conditions changed as qualifying progressed and admitted he never quite found the same rhythm as his team-mate.

“There was quite a bit of a wind change and I don’t think I did a great job anticipating it with the car setup. I felt a little bit off from this morning, then qualifying was quite messy,” Leclerc said. “We were unlucky in Q2 with the yellow flag, then we were playing catch up but the pace was never to the level of Lewis. It was all about maximising today and I felt I kind of did it.”

Full result: https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2026/races/1291/hungary/qualifying