(Budapest) Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, both of McLaren, dominated qualifying ahead of the Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix on Saturday.
Norris clocked a time of 1 minute 15.227 seconds, 22 thousandths of a second faster than Piastri.
The Briton thus secured the third pole position of his career. Norris will be aiming for a second victory, after his triumph in Miami in May. Since then, he has returned to the podium four times without winning.
Check out the starting grid for the Hungarian Grand Prix
Red Bull’s three-time world champion Max Verstappen settled for third, 46 thousandths of a second behind Norris.
PHOTO DENES ERDOS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lando Norris driving his McLaren during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix
Verstappen still leads the drivers’ standings with 255 points. Norris follows in second place with 171 points.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz will be alongside Verstappen on the second row of the grid.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will make up the third row.
Quebec driver Lance Stroll of Aston Martin finished eighth, just behind his teammate Fernando Alonso.
PHOTO MARTON MONUS, REUTERS
Lance Stroll during the qualifying session
The third segment of qualifying was interrupted after RB’s Yuki Tsunoda lost control of his car and hit the safety wall.
Seven of the 10 drivers returned to the track, but Daniel Ricciardo was the only one to improve his time, relegating his teammate Tsunoda to 10th.e rank by moving up one position.
The first segment was also punctuated by the issue of a red flag following a track exit by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. The latter had to settle for 16e rank.
Mercedes’ Briton George Russell did not have enough fuel to complete an extra lap at the end of Q1 after the restart and was eliminated. Russell, winner in Austria three weeks ago, will start from 17e position.
The Hungarian Grand Prix marks the start of the second half of the season, with qualifying taking place later on Saturday and the race on Sunday.
Norris and Piastri also topped the order in the third practice session earlier on Saturday, ahead of Verstappen. Norris was also fastest on Friday on a particularly hot track of 50 degrees Celsius.
The sky was cloudy on Saturday and the track temperature was down to 40C. A few droplets fell on the track at various times during qualifying, but the drivers never had to use the intermediate or wet tyres.