McLaren shocked by a stunning Leclerc! Verstappen flounders, Aston Martin rise!
A filmmaker with a soft spot for Ronnie Peterson, Gilles Villeneuve, Mika Hakkinen and above all, Tazio Nuvolari and Ayrton Senna, is also a diehard Formula One fan since the age of 4 (mid-90's). An avid researcher of the past of Grand Prix Racing since before it was even named F1, and with a thirst for knowledge of the ins and outs of the actuality of the sport, as well as for the technical aspects that define it, is a member of GPblog since 2023, where he has put his love of racing to good use.
Charles Leclerc has pulled off a shock pole ahead of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
How it happened
Q1
After the first run of fast laps Oscar Piastri set the benchmark time, with both Mercedes' of George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli splitting the McLaren's with Lando Norris in P4.
Lewis Hamilton was the quickest of the Ferrari's in P5 ahead of Fernando Alonso, Isack Hadjar, Lance Stroll and teammate Charles Leclerc, with Franco Colapinto closing the top 10. Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda in P12 and P17.
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In the second round of push laps Alonso jumped to P2, Hadjar to P3, Leclerc to P5, Bortoleto to P6 and Hamilton after being close to elimination went up to P10. Colapinto pushed teammate Pierre Gasly down to the bottom places as Verstappen struggled again.
Eliminated: Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Cocon, Nico Hulkenberg and Alexander Albon.
Q2
A mild patch of rain struck but only through Turns 1 and 5. Despite setting records in Sectors 1 and 2 Piastri was unable to pip teammate's Norris lap, the best of the whole weekend, a 1:14.890, but only by 0.050s.
Behind both McLaren's Alonso took P3, half a second off the pace, with Stroll following his teammate close behind. Hadjar placed P5 ahead of Bearman, Russell and Verstappen who found himself 1.2 seconds adrift.
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Leclerc stood on the edge in P10 ahead of Hamilton in P11 with both Ferrari's first run being done on scrubbed soft tyres. Carlos Sainz, Bortoleto, Antonelli and Colapinto occupied the elimination zone.
In the final run, Hadjar, Lawson, Verstappen, Leclerc and Bortoleto improved demoting Hamilton to the elimination positions. Stroll jumped up to P3 as Russell made his way up to P4.
Despite a strong lap, Antonelli also saw himself eliminated in P11, by a sterling last lap push from Bortoleto. Nevertheless, the Italian's last push lap was deleted.
Eliminated: Oliver Bearman, Lewis Hamilton, Carlos Sainz, Franco Colapinto and Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Q3
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Q3 got underway with Piastri taking provisional pole ahead of Norris. Russell came through setting purple times in Sectors 1 and 2, however he had oversteer in the final corner which cost him time in the final Sector, endind up, ultimately in P3.
Alonso set a quick enough lap for P4 with Verstappen in P5 ahead of Leclerc, Lawson, Bortoleto, Stroll and Hadjar.
In the second runs, Stroll shot up to P4 and Alonso took over Norris' place behind Piastri. Leclerc then took provisional pole ahead of both McLaren's.
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