McLaren upgrades power Lando Norris to pole as Ferrari falter

McLaren’s team principal said, “So the main improvements from a lap time point of view that we could cash in here in Hungary come from the aerodynamic upgrades that you will see in the submission, which were mainly related to a new floor; then there was a front brake, there were some rear brake duct winglets, and some other small parts. So, this is the main contribution to improving the lap time.”

Along with these upgrades, Norris also recently took an engine upgrade at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Ferrari has been the team to beat all weekend, after topping both FP1 and FP2. Their dominant pace had most teams watching them. However, due to other circumstances such as a spin for Max Verstappen, track limits, and a penalty for impeding, neither Ferrari managed to snag pole.

Stella continued, “When we look carefully at the data, we see that if we take the best corners of Leclerc and the best corners of Hamilton, I think still they have the highest potential. And some of the results, I think It's down to execution. From a team point of view, because we've been, I think, particularly diligent in finding some good countermeasures for the difficult conditions and good execution from the drivers.”

While Lewis Hamilton was on provisional pole, the current world champion went quicker by 0.012. After that, Hamilton also received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Norris’s teammate, Oscar Piastri. This promoted Charles Leclerc, Piastri and Max Verstappen up by one position.

Lewis Hamilton received a three-place grid penalty following qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix for impeding Piastri at Turn 1 during his second Q3 lap. This sanction relegated him to fifth on the grid. On Instagram, Hamilton expressed frustration at going from contending for pole to starting fifth.

He said, "Sometimes you just can’t catch a break. Another weekend when I’ve been feeling great throughout all the sessions, but then it just falls apart. To go from being so close to pole to then starting P5 is extremely frustrating."

Kimi Antonelli also received a three-place penalty and will start seventh. The main beneficiaries were Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen, who each gained two positions and will start from the second row.