Norris Takes Hungary Pole; Hamilton and Antonelli Penalised
Key Points
- Lando Norris claimed his first grand prix pole position of the season at the Hungarian Grand Prix by just 0.012 seconds in the upgraded McLaren.
- Lewis Hamilton received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri, dropping him from second to fifth on the grid.
- Championship leader Kimi Antonelli was also penalised three places for not slowing sufficiently under yellow flags after Max Verstappen's spin, falling to seventh.
Hamilton's frustration extended beyond the impeding decision. The seven-time champion admitted he had struggled with car handling on his final qualifying run. "I had a clean out-lap, and when I started my lap, already into Turn One I had a snap and I was already 0.15secs down," he explained to the BBC. "It just cascaded from there. The last lap was the worst lap of all."
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli also faced penalties. The Ferrari driver, who originally qualified fourth, received a three-place grid penalty for not slowing sufficiently under single yellow flags following Max Verstappen's spin at the final corner. Antonelli dropped to seventh on the grid, one place behind Mercedes team-mate George Russell.
Read Next
Kansas City Roos Women's Soccer Announces 2026 Signing Class
7 days ago
LeBron James' 4th Free Agency Move Leads to Philadelphia
8 days ago
The penalty decisions reshuffled the starting order substantially. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc moved to second, Piastri to third, Verstappen to fourth, Hamilton to fifth, and Russell to sixth. Verstappen had spun at the final corner but regained traction before Norris completed his qualifying lap to secure pole.
Fernando Alonso delivered positive news for Aston Martin, who debuted a virtually new car at the Hungarian circuit. The 45-year-old Spaniard progressed beyond Q1 for the first time this season, setting a qualifying time 2.8 seconds off pole but showing relative pace improvements of approximately two seconds compared to recent performances. "I feel relieved a little bit, feeling that the team understood the weaknesses of the car and this is the first step in the right direction," Alonso told BBC Radio 5 Live.
Related coverage: Kansas City Roos Women's Soccer Announces 2026 Signing Class
The grid penalties reveal a critical timing problem in qualifying procedure: drivers sent out for final runs had no reliable mechanism to avoid impeding slower cars still completing their laps, despite Hamilton's first run being his fastest. With only 0.012 seconds separating pole from second place, even marginal track position advantages—or disadvantages—prove decisive at Hungary, historically one of Formula 1's most challenging overtaking circuits. This suggests Hamilton's penalty may prove more consequential than the one-tenth-second gap that separated him from pole position.
Sources: BBC Sport and other international news outlets.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. Content is based on publicly available news sources.
NewsOracle Editorial
The NewsOracle Sports Desk covers breaking sports news from the NFL, NBA, Premier League, UFC, tennis, cricket and major global sporting events.
Latest coverage: Formula 1
