Leclerc stuns with shock Hungarian GP pole ahead of Piastri

Charles Leclerc was left speechless after pinching pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix from Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris with a blistering final lap in Q3.

Leclerc finished third in all three practice sessions at the Hungaroring behind the dominant McLaren drivers and was a distant sixth after his first lap in the shootout, trailing provisional pole-getter Piastri by 1.2s. But in rapidly changing conditions and in dropping ambient temperatures, Ferrari's car came alive and when neither McLaren could improve on their first times, the door was open to the Monaco native to rocket to top spot.

Leclerc failed to set a purple time in any of the three sectors but found a stunning 1.258 with his final lap to set the benchmark at 1m15.372s. He was the only driver in Q3 to improve on his Q2 time, and it was enough to overcome Piastri’s quickest lap by a tiny but decisive 0.026s.

It left Leclerc shocked, and he cackled madly over team radio after being told he’d topped qualifying.

“Today I don’t understand anything in Formula 1,” he said. “Honestly, the whole qualifying has been extremely difficult – and when I say extremely difficult, it’s not exaggerating.

“In Q3 the conditions changed a little bit. Everything became a lot trickier, and I knew I just had to do a clean lap to target third, and at the end of the day it’s pole position. I definitely did not expect that.

“I have no words. It’s probably one of the best pole positions I’ve ever had, because it’s one of the most unexpected.”

Leclerc had to manhandle his Ferrari, but it still worked out well beyond his expectations. Joe Portlock/Getty Images

With overtaking difficult around the narrow Hungaroring, Leclerc has a strong chance to turn Ferrari’s first pole of the year into its first win.

“The start and Turn 1 will be key,” he said. “I have no idea how it will go.

“One thing’s for sure: I will do absolutely everything to keep that first place. If we manage to do that, then that should make our life easier for the rest of the race.”

Piastri was surprised to see McLaren’s advantage dissolve so suddenly, the Australian blaming the wind for the team’s instantaneous loss of performance.

“It always sounds so pathetic blaming things on the wind, but the wind basically did a 180 from Q2 to Q3,” he said. “It meant a lot of the corners felt completely different.

“My first lap in Q3 felt pretty terrible because I wasn’t used to it. I thought the second lap was a lot better, but it was even slower. Maybe not the best execution, but I was a bit surprised we couldn’t go quicker than that. Second is still a decent spot to start. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”

Norris set the fastest time of qualifying but in Q2. Unable to match that effort in Q3, he qualified third and 0.041s off pole.

“Q2, I think we showed how quick we could go and our advantage, but as soon as the wind changed, everything went away,” he said. “Charles did a good job on the last lap, probably risked a little bit more in these conditions.”

George Russell will start fourth for Mercedes after lapping only 0.053s off Leclerc to share the second row with Norris.

Aston Martin produced a stunning turnaround from its back-of-grid performance in Belgium to get both cars into Q3, with Fernando Alonso leading Lance Stroll in fifth and sixth respectively, both closely matched just over 0.1s off the pace.

Gabriel Bortoleto made his third Q3 appearance form the last four grands prix for Sauber to qualify seventh ahead of Max Verstappen. The world champion never looked like a genuine pole contender despite having been ahead of Leclerc after their first laps of the shootout, and complained that his car’s lack of grip was “like literally driving on ice.”

Racing Bulls teammates Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar completed the top 10.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli was knocked out 11th in the fast-improving track conditions late in Q2, the Italian only 0.006s short of a berth inside the top 10 after complaining of no rear grip. Antonelli was subsequently demoted to 15th for having his fastest lap deleted for track limits, leaving him last in Q2.

Oliver Bearman was promoted to 11th ahead of Lewis Hamilton, whose best lap was spoiled by a series of oversteer snaps in the final sector, leaving him 0.247s short on Leclerc in that segment.

Carlos Sainz will line up 13th ahead of Franco Colapinto in 14th. It’s the first time Colapinto has outqualified Gasly since the Canadian Grand Prix and only his second time ahead overall. It’s only the third time Gasly has qualified behind a teammate this year, the third being Jack Doohan’s result in Miami.

Yuki Tsunoda was bumped out in Q1 at the very last moment, missing out one progression by just 0.024s as the track ramped up significantly in the final minutes of the segment and benefitted those who completed their laps later than him.

It’s the third time from the last five grands prix that the Japanese driver has been knocked out in the bottom five. He will line up 16th for the grand prix.

Gasly was 17th ahead of a resigned Esteban Ocon, who reported a screw in his right-front tire as he left pit lane for his final lap.

Nico Hulkenberg was a surprise 19th after having looked competitive throughout practice for Sauber, but the biggest shock of the segment was Alex Albon, who was eliminated in Q1 for the first time this season, the Williams driver 0.348s off a shot in Q2.

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