Charles Leclerc stole the show in qualifying after edging out McLaren’s Oscar Piastri with a last-gasp lap to take pole for the 2025 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver’s late surge denied McLaren a front-row lockout, setting the stage for a thrilling race at the Hungaroring.
Piastri initially secured provisional pole before Leclerc snuck ahead of him, and the McLaren driver couldn’t improve as he settled for second place in the end.
Lando Norris improved on his final lap to go third ahead of George Russell on the second row. Up next was the Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll on the third row.
Gabriel Bortoleto ended up in seventh, Max Verstappen down in eighth and the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar rounding out the top 10.
The McLarens dominated the earlier practice sessions, with Oscar Piastri topping FP3 after his team-mate had controlled the Friday running.
Tsunoda knocked out in Q1 once again
With ominous dark clouds circulating around the track in Budapest, Q1 kicked off with only the Williams drivers heading out in the opening minutes of the session.
The weather radar showed that there could be some heavy showers on the way. Alex Albon went fastest with a 1:17.441s before Max Verstappen soon displaced him at the top with 1:16.346s.
Yuki Tsunoda was two tenths down on his Red Bull team-mate after he completed his lap, before Lando Norris and Piastri went faster.
Lewis Hamilton slotted into third ahead of both Aston Martins as Charles Leclerc went fast enough to go seventh fastest.
Mercedes finally stepped up, Andrea Kimi Antonelli going third and George Russell second. Tsunoda found himself in the danger zone, Verstappen precariously above in 13th place, whilst both Haas drivers, Pierre Gasly and Sainz occupied the rest of the bottom five.
The Aston Martins went early, Fernando Alonso setting the fastest lap and Lance Stroll jumping up to third. Piastri quickly improved to top the timing sheets as Verstappen climbed up the order to sixth, Tsunoda into eighth.
Isack Hadjar went third, Gabriel Bortoleto fifth for Sauber, and then Sainz went seventh fastest. Gasly could only manage 13th and soon found himself knocked out in 17th. Albon failed to improve and was also eliminated from qualifying.
The Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Haas of Esteban Ocon joined them, whilst Tsunoda’s jump up the order to eighth was not good enough, as he suffered yet another Q1 exit down in 16th once everyone else had improved.
Hamilton and Antonelli eliminated in Q2
Q2 was delayed while race marshals cleared gravel from the track. After a few minutes, the session got underway as little drops of rain started to fall whilst drivers headed out on slick tyres.
Alonso jumped to the top early on, while the Mercedes drivers struggled — Russell ultimately finding himself in seventh place once everyone had set a lap time.
Antonelli found himself in the drop zone in 14th, joined by Hamilton after both Ferraris opted for used Soft tyres.
Leclerc was in 10th place, while Verstappen lingered precariously in eighth as the rain eased off — leaving the track dry enough to avoid any immediate urgency.
However, Stroll went out early for a second run and went third fastest behind the McLarens. Leclerc requested an early run, a call that was promptly granted; he became the first driver on track to improve, setting the fifth-fastest time.
Hamilton managed only seventh fastest as both Racing Bulls secured top-10 spots. Antonelli could only improve to go eighth and Russell split the Aston Martin in fourth, knocking Hamilton out of Q3 contention.
Bortoleto then pushed Antonelli into the elimination zone, while Verstappen climbed to eighth fastest — just enough to make it through to Q3.
Antonelli ended up in 11th, Hamilton 13th, with Oliver Bearman splitting them after failing to improve for Haas. Sainz and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto rounded out the bottom five in Q2.
The Italian rookie had his lap time deleted as he dropped to 15th, each driver out in Q2 gaining one extra place for the race start tomorrow.
Leclerc steals pole with late lap
With Q3 underway, the Aston Martins were up first as Alonso once again got the better of his team-mate to go to the top.
Meanwhile, Norris went fastest through the first sector in the battle between the papaya duo, completing his lap to go fastest before Piastri went to the top by just 0.096s.
Russell topped the times through the first two sectors but lost ground in the final part of the lap, ultimately ending up third after his first run — two tenths behind the Australian— after a slight moment in the final corner cost him valuable time.
Verstappen managed only fifth on his opening run, with Leclerc just behind the Red Bull driver. Meanwhile, Stroll had his lap time deleted and dropped to ninth.
Both Aston Martins went early once again and showcased the pace of the AMR25 around the Hungaroring with Stroll going third, just a tenth off Piastri. Alonso went even faster and missed out on provisional pole by just 0.083s.
Leclerc found time from out of nowhere to go onto provisional pole by just 0.026s as Norris could only manage to go third fastest. Piastri failed to improve, leaving the Ferrari driver on pole for the Hungarian GP.
Russell finished his lap to go fourth fastest as Verstappen ended up all the way down the order in eighth with his effort.
READ MORE – F1 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix – Qualifying Results
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