Hungarian GP Qualifying: Lando Norris snatches pole before Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli receive grid penalties

McLaren’s Lando Norris snatched Hungarian Grand Prix pole from Lewis Hamilton before the Ferrari driver was later demoted from second on the grid by a penalty for impeding. <p>Hamilton appeared to be on course for his first Grand Prix pole since this event three years ago after finishing a tenth of a second clear of Norris following the first runs in Q3. However, the McLaren driver found more time on his final lap while his rivals struggled to improve, edging his compatriot by just 12 thousandths of a second.</p><p>It turned out that Norris, who will instead be joined by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on the front row, would have claimed pole regardless, as Hamilton was later demoted from second to fifth on the grid by a penalty incurred for impeding the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri during Q3.</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/13564140/hungarian-gp-2026-dates-schedule-weather-uk-start-time-and-how-to-watch-or-stream-f1-race-at-hungaroring-live-on-sky-sports"><strong>Hungarian GP: UK schedule and how to watch on Sky Sports</strong></a></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.skysports.com/f1/standings">F1 2026 standings</a> | <a href="https://www.skysports.com/f1/schedule-results">F1 2026 Calendar</a> | <a href="https://www.skysports.com/f1/live-blog/12433/12466779/f1-news-rumours-and-gossip-formula-1-latest-updates-on-teams-driver-transfer-market-and-contracts">F1 Gossip Column</a></strong></li><li><a href="https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/ContentPromo" target="_blank"><strong>Download the Sky Sports app for expert analysis, best video & more</strong></a><strong>📱</strong></li><li><strong>Not got Sky? </strong><a href="https://www.sky.com/tv/sports?dcmp=Ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink" target="_blank"><strong>Get Sky Sports</strong></a><strong> or </strong><a href="http://www.nowtv.com/membership/watch-sky-sports?DCMP=ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink" target="_blank"><strong>stream with no contract on NOW</strong></a><strong>📺</strong></li></ul><p>Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who leads Hamilton by 45 points at the top of the Drivers' Championship, had finished fourth in qualifying but will start from seventh after also incurring a three-place grid penalty, in his case for failing to sufficiently slow under yellow flags.</p><widget id="9"></widget><p>Piastri earns a promotion to third, while Red Bull's Max Verstappen, whose spin at the last corner on his final flying lap caused the yellow flags that Antonelli failed to slow for, also jumps two places to fourth.</p><p>Despite continuing to lack pace and qualifying only seventh, George Russell will start ahead of his Mercedes team-mate in sixth after the team's run of 10 consecutive grand prix pole positions to start the season came to a disappointing end.</p><p>Russell stopped on track at the end of qualifying as his power unit broke, but Mercedes are able to replace the engine for tomorrow's race without the Brit incurring a penalty.</p> <widget id="11"></widget><p>A 17th career pole for reigning world champion Norris is his first since the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November last year, and comes on a weekend where McLaren brought a significant upgrade package to a car that had largely underwhelmed to this point in 2026.</p><p>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.</p><p>"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."</p> <widget id="6"></widget><p>British rookie Arvid Lindblad continued his strong form for Racing Bulls by claiming ninth, while Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top 10 for Audi.</p><p>Fernando Alonso provided some encouragement for Aston Martin as he took advantage of his heavily upgraded car to get the team into Q2 for the first time this season.</p><p>While Alonso will start 16th after finishing last in Q2, the performance nevertheless indicates progress ahead of another important weekend for Aston Martin after the summer break at the Dutch Grand Prix, where engine supplier Honda will also introduce a significant upgrade.</p> <widget id="3"></widget><h3>Insult added to injury as pole evades Hamilton</h3><p>The one thing missing from Lewis Hamilton's resurgent 2026 campaign with Ferrari has been a Grand Prix pole.</p><p>The seven-time world champion claimed his first Ferrari Grand Prix win in Barcelona in June and followed that up with a Sprint pole at Silverstone earlier in July.</p><p>On Saturday at the Hungaroring, he appeared to be on course to complete a hat-trick of summer triumphs by claiming pole at the circuit his last one arrived at - for Mercedes - in 2023.</p> <widget id="5"></widget><p>Having impressed throughout practice and the first two parts of qualifying, Hamilton edged Norris by a tenth on their first Q3 runs to put himself on provisional pole.</p><p>It was slightly surprising, given his strong position with the leading time, for Hamilton to be sent out first of the pole hopefuls for the second and final flying lap, and the decision couldn't have backfired more spectacularly.</p><p>Whether it was down to changing track conditions or otherwise, Hamilton made a mistake in the first corner and several more after as he was unable to improve his earlier time.</p><p>"The last lap was the worst lap of all, and all the other laps were really good," Hamilton said. "We clearly had the car to be on the pole today, and that just didn't deliver, so that's tough to swallow."</p> <widget id="12"></widget><p>That initially did not seem to be a major problem, as the other cars on track also struggled to improve on their first-run times. However, the last driver to start the lap was the only one who appeared to have the pace to challenge Hamilton.</p><p>Norris seized the moment to edge ahead by the smallest of margins, but worse was still to come for Hamilton.</p><p>Having finished his flying lap, Hamilton wasn't warned over the radio that Piastri was starting his own flying lap behind him, and was dawdling in the first corner as the Australian approached.</p><p>"I was told literally when he was at the apex behind me, so I had no idea he was coming," Hamilton said. "I thought everyone came out behind me. I was the first out, so I thought everyone had finished the lap."</p> <widget id="13"></widget><p>The result was a slam-dunk three-place grid penalty, which Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur confirmed was the team's, rather than his driver's fault.</p><p>Instead of starting from the front row with a major chance of victory and an opportunity to take a significant chunk out of Antonelli's title-race advantage, Hamilton will now do well to finish on the podium on what has been Mercedes' worst weekend of the season so far.</p><p>The only consolation in Hamilton's pursuit of a record eighth world championship is that Antonelli also committed an infringement, giving him hope of still reducing the Italian's advantage in the final round before the summer break.</p> <widget id="4"></widget><h3><a href="https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/13564140/hungarian-gp-2026-dates-schedule-weather-uk-start-time-and-how-to-watch-or-stream-f1-race-at-hungaroring-live-on-sky-sports">Sky Sports F1's Hungarian GP schedule</a></h3> <widget id="2"></widget><p><strong>Sunday July 26</strong><br />7.35am: F3 Feature Race<br />9.05am: Porsche Supercup<br />10.20am: F2 Feature Race<br />12.30pm: Hungarian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*<br /><strong>2pm: THE HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX*</strong><br />4pm: Hungarian GP reaction: Chequered Flag*<br />5pm: Ted's Notebook*</p><p><em>*Also on Sky Sports Main Event</em></p><p><strong>Formula 1 is in Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix with Sunday's race at 2pm and build-up from 12.30pm, live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event. <a href="https://www.nowtv.com/watch-sky-sports-online?DCMP=ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink">Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime</a></strong></p>