Lando Norris claimed pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix after a closely contested Qualifying session at the Hungaroring, giving McLaren the best possible starting position for Sunday’s race. Lewis Hamilton initially qualified second ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, while championship leader Kimi Antonelli set the fourth-fastest time before receiving a three-place grid penalty for failing to slow sufficiently under yellow flags following Max Verstappen’s late spin in Q3. With overtaking notoriously difficult in Budapest, track position is expected to play an important role in what is forecast to be a hot, high-degradation race.
For Audi, Qualifying produced another step forward despite mixed fortunes across the garage. Nico Hülkenberg delivered a clean, mistake-free session to reach Q3 and secure 10th on the grid, marking the team’s second consecutive top-10 Qualifying result after Gabriel Bortoleto’s Q3 appearance at Spa. Hülkenberg admitted the gap to the cars ahead was larger than hoped, but was satisfied the team extracted the maximum from its package after battling difficult winds and changing track conditions. With promising long-run pace shown during Friday practice, Nico believes Audi has a realistic opportunity to fight for points on Sunday.
Bortoleto’s afternoon unraveled through little fault of outright pace. After losing his opening Q1 lap to track limits, the Brazilian faced immediate pressure to progress before seeing his first Q2 flying lap compromised by yellow flags after Isack Hadjar spun ahead. Unable to recover on his final attempt, he qualified 14th and acknowledged he failed to maximize the car’s potential. Racing Director Allan McNish nevertheless highlighted the significance of consecutive top-10 Qualifying appearances for the team, praising Hülkenberg’s execution while remaining optimistic that Budapest’s strategic complexity could allow both Audi drivers to move forward during Sunday’s race.
R:11 SCHEDULE
| DAY/DATE | ACTIVITY | LOCAL TIME | CET | EST |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 24 Jul | Practice 1 | 13:30-14:30 | 13:30-14:30 | 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM |
| Fri 24 Jul | Practice 2 | 17:00-18:00 | 17:00-18:00 | 11:00 AM – 12:00 AM |
| Sat 25 Jul | Practice 3 | 12:30-13:30 | 12:30-13:30 | 6:30 AM – 7:30 AM |
| Sat 25 Jul | Qualifying | 16:00-17:00 | 16:00-17:00 | 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM |
| Sun 26 Mar | Grand Prix | 15:00 | 15:00 | 9:00 AM |
R:11 RACE INFORMATION
AUDI REVOLUT F1 | FORMULA 1 SERIES
R:11 FREE PRACTICE #3 RESULTS
FULL RESULTS | WATCH BROADCAST
| POS. | NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | TIME/GAP | LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:17.939 | 20 |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +0.117 | 22 |
| 3 | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +0.129 | 16 |
| 4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.352 | 24 |
| 5 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +0.499 | 22 |
| 6 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.602 | 18 |
| 7 | 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.717 | 14 |
| 8 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | +1.004 | 17 |
| 9 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +1.149 | 23 |
| 10 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | +1.221 | 24 |
| 11 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | +1.399 | 22 |
R:10 QUALIFYING RESULTS
FULL RESULTS | WATCH BROADCAST
| POS. | NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | 1 | Q2 | Q3 | LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:18.277 | 1:17.456 | 1:17.207 | 16 |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1:18.730 | 1:17.803 | 1:17.219 | 15 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:18.984 | 1:17.626 | 1:17.445 | 20 |
| 4 | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1:18.726 | 1:18.393 | 1:17.479 | 20 |
| 5 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:18.891 | 1:17.928 | 1:17.684 | 15 |
| 6 | 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:18.656 | 1:18.249 | 1:17.725 | 18 |
| 7 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:18.856 | 1:18.445 | 1:17.760 | 20 |
| 8 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | 1:18.754 | 1:17.872 | 1:17.856 | 14 |
| 9 | 41 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 1:19.233 | 1:18.360 | 1:18.281 | 18 |
| 10 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | 1:18.796 | 1:18.639 | 1:18.686 | 18 |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 14 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 1:19.069 | 1:19.105 | 11 |
TEAM QUOTES
Allan McNish, Racing Director
“Overall, it was a challenging qualifying session for everyone with the wind and changing track conditions, but we have positives to take away. Reaching another small milestone on our journey, with consecutive top ten qualifying results for the team following Gabriel in Spa and now Nico here in Budapest, is something we can be pleased with.
Nico has had a run of weekends where things haven’t quite fallen his way, so it was great to see him put everything together and deliver a very strong lap today. On Gabriel’s side, it was a more difficult session, and he was on the back foot for much of qualifying, but starting P10 and P14 gives us opportunities with both cars tomorrow. Budapest can be an unpredictable race, and we’ll be looking to make the most of what we have.”
Nico Hulkenberg, Car #27
FP3: 10th / 1:19.160 (24 laps)
Q1: 1:18.796 (6 laps)
Q2: 1:18.639 (6 laps)
Q3: 10th / 1:18.686 (6 laps)
“I’m pleased to be back in Q3 after a clean qualifying. I think we maximised everything we had today. That’s satisfying, even if the gap to the cars ahead was a bit bigger than we’d hoped.
“It’s been very close all weekend and the windy conditions made it difficult to find consistency, especially through the middle sector. Still, we executed well when it counted and starting from P10 gives us a solid platform for tomorrow. Our long-run pace looked encouraging on Friday, so hopefully we can challenge the cars around us and fight for points.”
Gabriel Bortoleto, Car #5
FP3: 11th / 1:19.338 (22 laps)
Q1: 1:19.069 (6 laps)
Q2: 14th / 1:19.105 (5 laps)
“It was a disappointing qualifying from my side. I didn’t put everything together and made a few mistakes, so I didn’t maximize the package we had today. We’ve been in the top ten throughout the weekend, so I think there was definitely more potential. Starting from P14 makes tomorrow more challenging, but we’ll do our best to move forward and see what we can achieve.”
GALLERY
