Five key takeaways after Qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix

Aston Martin arrived in Hungary with the first part of their new Aston Martin package. After going an entire season without an update, there was a lot of pressure to perform this weekend. Fernando Alonso highlighted the good work of Newey and the rest of the technical team by making it through to Q2 for the first time in 2026.

The gap to Oliver Bearman was minimal, but the difference to Cadillac and Williams - teams Aston Martin had been trailing in recent races - was clear. Alonso was five tenths faster than the quickest Williams and seven tenths quicker than the fastest Cadillac. Lance Stroll benefited less from the update, with the Canadian stranded five tenths behind Alonso, between the Cadillacs and the Williams drivers.

Arvid Lindblad has outqualified his teammate Liam Lawson in the last three sessions. As a rookie, the Briton has already shown some highlights this season, but in the last three races, Lindblad has stepped up. Three times, Lindblad was over four tenths faster than the more experienced Lawson. In Belgium, that earned him the first Racing Bulls upgrades, but even with equal machinery, Lindblad was quicker than Lawson in Hungary. The head-to-head in qualifying still stands at 6–5 in favor of the New Zealander, but the average gap now favours Lindblad: 0.040s.

Hungary seemed like a good opportunity for Red Bull Racing to fight at the front again. After strong qualifying sessions in Monaco and Austria, a good result from Max Verstappen was also expected in Budapest. However, it didn’t materialise. At the Hungaroring, Red Bull still appears to be the fourth-fastest team, with a gap of more than half a second to the leading teams, Ferrari and McLaren. It all culminated in an uncharacteristic spin for Max Verstappen in the final corner of his last lap.

With nine pole positions, Lewis Hamilton already held the record at the Hungaroring, but on the weekend that has seen a corner named after him, Hamilton was once again formidable for Ferrari in Budapest. The seven-time world champion was two tenths faster than Leclerc and just missed out on his tenth pole position to Lando Norris by 0.012s.

After the Belgian Grand Prix, George Russell again cited misfortune as the reason for his weaker performances in qualifying and the race. Mercedes resolved the issue for the Hungarian GP, but the gap between the two Mercedes drivers remains the same. For the seventh time this season, Antonelli was the fastest man on Saturday, meaning Russell will once more have to charge from behind on Sunday to give his championship a boost before the summer break. The Briton did hit issues during Q3, stopping on track late on at Turn 1.