Hungarian GP Qualifying: Teams & Drivers report from Hungaroring

Charles Leclerc shocked all, including himself, with a well-timed, surprise pole position winning lap for Ferrari, edging McLaren's Oscar Piastri by just 0.026s in a tight Qualifying session in Hungary today.

It marked Ferrari’s first pole at a Grand Prix (not counting Sprint Races) this season, and a major boost after a difficult run of form. Piastri, who leads the Drivers’ Championship by 16 points over Norris, was P2, ahead of his teammate and title rival, who will start from P3 on the grid.

McLaren, dominant through practice earlier in the day and on Friday, had taken pole in Hungary last year and won 10 of the 13 races so far in 2025.

George Russell will start fourth for Mercedes, while Aston Martin made a significant step forward with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll locking out the third row.

Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto impressed with P7, as reigning champion Max Verstappen could only manage P8. Racing Bulls pair Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar completed the top ten. This is what drivers and teams had to say after qualifying in Hungary.

P1. Charles Leclerc: "Qualifying was extremely difficult today. Q1 and Q2 were really tricky. I was on the limit in both sessions, the grip kept changing throughout Q2, I was on the lower end of downforce and when it started to rain, I wasn't sure I'd make it to the final session. In Q3, I knew I needed a clean lap to go for P3, but I never thought it was enough for pole. I'm really happy with my lap and it's probably the most unexpected pole position of my career. It's a big boost for the team. Everyone has been pushing very hard to bring upgrades and take steps in the right direction, so this result shows that we are doing something right. On Sunday, the start and turn 1 will be key. I will do absolutely everything to keep first place and if we manage to keep the two McLaren behind at that point, it should make our job for the rest of the race a bit easier."

P12. Lewis Hamilton: "Clearly a massively disappointing day and being on the wrong side of a tenth cost me. Congratulations to Charles and the team. It shows what can happen when things align. I’ve got a lot of work to do and will remain focused on that."

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal: "This was not an easy pole as we struggled in Q1 and Q2 to get the tyres in the right window and we were not far off having both our cars out in Q2. Conditions were changing massively, with even some rain in Q2. Then in the end, Charles found the way to put the tyres in the right window and the correct spot on the out lap. It was a mega lap and it’s a very positive performance seeing that the delta between P10 and P1 is so small. Lewis was very close to Charles and failed to make the cut but just 15 thousandths of a second. He will definitely have a tough time in the race. As for tomorrow, we saw yesterday that we had a strong and consistent pace over a long run even compared to McLaren. For the race, we must focus on ourselves, have a good strategy and the right approach for the tyres. If we do that, we can have a good one as our race pace is generally stronger than our quali pace."

P2. Oscar Piastri: "A slightly disappointing end to an otherwise strong Qualifying session. The wind just caused us more problems in Q3, especially in the last sector, which meant we weren't able to find more pace. It's a tough circuit to overtake on, but there's rain due tomorrow, so we'll see what impact that has. Our car has great race pace, so I think we can go forward."

P3. Lando Norris: “A second-row start tomorrow. The wind changed a lot during the session, which seemed to punish us at the very end of Q3. Well done to Ferrari and Charles, he did a good job on the last lap. In Q2 we saw how quick we can really go, so I expect us to have more pace tomorrow, and that’s where the points are. I’m looking forward to it.”

Andrea Stella, Team Principal: "Today’s Qualifying was an interesting session. We saw competitive, good lap times from both Oscar and Lando in Q1 and Q2. While the performance of the car looked like we were in a strong position to challenge for Pole, the variable conditions with a change of wind and a drop in temperature meant that we couldn't replicate that pace in Q3. Well done to Ferrari and Charles Leclerc for adapting to the changing conditions and managing to go a little bit faster in Q3, securing Pole position. We now have a bit more work to do than anticipated in tomorrow’s race, but we can be confident in the challenge ahead as the car's race pace is competitive."

P5. Fernando Alonso: "Fifth position is a great result for us. It seems the layout and characteristics of this track suit our car much better, and we need to try to understand this. The wind direction changed in Q3 and made the track slower, so we couldn't match the times of Q1 and Q2. We decided to run in the middle of the session in Q3 to avoid any other wind changes and we were close to pole position, so I think this decision worked well for us. If we can finish fifth and sixth tomorrow that would be a great result heading into the summer break."

P6. Lance Stroll: "Strong result for the team today – especially after such a tough weekend in Spa just a few days ago. The car was just a lot of fun to drive in Qualifying. It was super tight: we missed pole by a tenth and it's great to be starting from P6 tomorrow. The track really seems to suit the car and, with the conditions today, it all came together and everything was in the sweet spot for us. Let's see what happens tomorrow, but it's nice starting further up and we'll see what we can do. Hopefully we're in a position to score some points. We'll fight for sure."

Mike Krack, Chief Trackside Officer: "Fifth and sixth on the grid in Budapest is a good result – well done to the entire team here and back at the AMR Technology Campus: everybody has played their part. Fernando and Lance did an excellent job and the car has been competitive since the start of practice yesterday. Now we need to deliver a strong result in the race, too. When you start on the third row of the grid in Hungary, you always have a good chance of scoring points because overtaking is so difficult. There will be lots of strategy discussions overnight and we need to execute well tomorrow."

P8. Max Verstappen: “It hasn’t been a great weekend and nothing has really worked throughout. The whole weekend we have been off the pace and struggling for grip and it unfortunately meant that each lap in Qualifying was a struggle. We didn’t have a good balance of the car in the laps and had quite a low grip feeling on the front and rear axel. We tried a lot throughout the weekend and we didn’t get many answers. Nothing made much of a difference, which was strange as we normally get a response when we change the setup of the car throughout the weekend. It wasn’t a great performance, but we did maximise everything that we could and we will investigate further ahead of tomorrow. We didn’t have great pace today and tomorrow it will be tough to pass the cars in front but you never know what will happen."

P16. Yuki Tsunida: “It's been a frustrating weekend so far for the Team. We've struggled to find pace and the lack of grip cost us time. My team are trying to find the solution, but we just haven't yet. Personally, I can feel reasonable about my performance in Qualifying, I've stayed close to Max all weekend and that’s a positive for myself. I didn't make any mistakes in the session and I only missed out on Q2 by a few milliseconds which, unfortunately, is how it has been lately. We'll see about tomorrow, it's not easy to overtake here but anything can happen with mixed conditions expected. All I can do is keep pushing."

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal & CEO: "We have not had an ideal weekend so far and we have been struggling to get the car in the right window, including in Qualifying. Grip has been an issue, pretty much from the start of free practice. We have tried many things across both cars, with both Yuki and Max and it is fair to say we have not given our drivers the car they wanted. Have we really cracked it? No, but now we have plenty of data help us figure out what the issues are. If we are to improve we must use days like this constructively, to ultimately be better. It’s uncomfortable but you can learn from these situations. Yuki was knocked out of Q1 by only a couple of hundredths, and he was actually quite close to Max in both his runs, but we just didn’t have performance in the car. Max made it quite impressively through to Q3, despite our struggles and where he qualified is probably a true picture of where we are this weekend so far. We have a lot of work ahead of us to unlock the performance, but we will keep fighting and tomorrow will be a very different set of conditions. We are potentially going to have high temperatures in the race and we will see what we can do. We will be racing at a very impressive new look Hungaroring and we must credit the incredible work done here to completely transform the race track in just one year, with new garages, grandstands and a total overhaul. Well done to everyone involved, it’s a super venue to go racing in."

P9: Liam Lawson: "It's good to be in Q3, particularly given it's been quite a difficult weekend so far, so it was a great recovery. The conditions changed a bit through Quali, so it's a shame we missed out on a couple of spots. Qualifying is important here and the car has been very good recently, particularly with our pace in the long runs. It's very close at the moment and difficult to overtake here, so the aim is of course to have a strong start, look after the tyres and stay in the points tomorrow."

P10. Isack Hadjar: “It was a positive session overall for the team, but the changing conditions didn’t help. The car has felt good throughout the weekend, and everything was going well up until Q3. Then the wind picked up significantly, which made things tricky. I made a mistake and ended up in the grass, and after that, the car wasn’t as enjoyable to drive. I only went for one attempt in Q3, but there was definitely more potential, we could have got P7. Our race pace looks solid for tomorrow, so starting from P10, I’ll need a strong start and a good strategy. I’m ready to fight for points.”

Tim Goss, Chief Technical Officer: “A great Qualifying session for both Liam and Isack today. Our car has been strong in Budapest from the first session on Friday, however we knew we would have to extract some more pace before Qualifying. For FP3 we worked further on the set-up to get a little more rotation in low-speed corners, and a little more stability high-speed. The balance improved and we trusted that with some subtle changes for track conditions, we had everything in place. Both drivers drove fantastic laps to put themselves into Q3, but the slightly windy conditions made it difficult to deliver a similar lap time and we finished P9 and P10. Our long run place looks good from second practice, and we go into tomorrow confident of a good points finish.”

Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal: “We elected to go into qualifying with a two-run strategy in each session, running new/new tires in Q1, followed by scrubbed new for Q2, and the same for Q3 if we came through. For Nico, the lap time just didn’t come to him, and he ended up missing out on Q2 by a tenth, finishing in P19. If you want an indicator of just how tight the field has become, you have it right there. Q1 saw a strong performance from Gabi, who finished the session in P5 and delivered his fastest lap in qualifying. Moving forward into Q2, Gabi kept our hearts in our mouths at the end, moving up into Q3 by a thousandth of a second and again, showing how narrow the margins are between the drivers. Into Q3, and Gabi delivered a great qualifying performance, placing him P7, the highest race start position of his F1 career. Track conditions evolved during the session with the wind changing direction throughout. Gabi managed that well, which is a good omen ahead of the race tomorrow.”

P19. Nico Hulkenberg: "There’s no hiding the fact that today’s result is disappointing, especially considering how strong the car felt throughout the practice sessions. From the first laps yesterday, the balance was encouraging, and even in FP3 this morning, I felt confident pushing. But once we got into Q1, the car behaved quite differently – the rear grip just wasn’t there, particularly in the high-speed corners. That shift in balance was something we hadn’t seen all weekend. We now need to dig into the data and understand what changed. The team has made good progress recently, and the feeling in the car has generally been positive, so it’s important we get to the bottom of this and make the right calls for tomorrow."

P7. Gabriel Bortoleto: “I’m incredibly happy with how qualifying unfolded today. After a challenging start to the weekend where we lacked pace and confidence in the car, we worked hard to address the issues causing that and made strong progress. Securing a spot in Q3 and finishing P7 - my best result so far in Formula 1 - is a great milestone for both the team and me. It’s been a season of learning, as expected in a rookie year. Every session is a chance to grow, and I couldn’t do it without the amazing team around me. They push me, support me, and we’re making steps forward together. Now the focus is on converting this into a strong result in the race.”

P17. Pierre Gasly: “It is always disappointing to be out in Q1. We knew going into Qualifying it would be a challenge but, at recent races, we have still managed to put it together and extract the maximum from the car. Today I just could not get the car to do what I wanted. We suffered with a lot of understeer on the lap. At times it felt okay this weekend but it is clear we have been on the backfoot right from the start of the weekend. Maybe there will be some opportunity tomorrow. The weather could be mixed and it will be eyes on the sky once again. We will aim to recover some positions but we know it will not be easy starting so far back.”

P14. Franco Colapinto: “I have some mixed feelings after today's Qualifying, as we cannot be completely satisfied with the result or being out in Q2 but I felt much better in the car and more confident, which is a positive step in the right direction. Today was a better day than yesterday, as we have struggled a bit so far up to this point of the weekend. We did a lot of work overnight in the background and the team did well to improve the feeling of the car. It's still not where we want to be and we know we still have work to do to improve on our position and remain consistent. Let's see what tomorrow brings and remain open to all possible variables, as the weather will no doubt once again be a major factor.”

Flavio Briatore: “A difficult session today with the car falling short of our expectations. Both drivers struggled with similar limitations and it is not often we see Pierre exit in Q1. Credit to Franco who has shown a very good step in performance, this time reaching Q2. We must keep doing more with our overall package to give ourselves a fighting chance for points on a regular basis. It will of course be difficult starting fourteenth and seventeenth tomorrow and we will see how it goes. The forecast for tomorrow is a bit mixed. We will be ready for all scenarios, but a bit of rain might help our chances.”

James Vowles, Team Principal: "A really interesting Qualifying session and we learned a lot today. You can see that the normal ordering of teams just isn't apparent here. We have one Ferrari on pole, the other not making it to Q3. You can see that there's a spread and, I've said this before, but the field is getting closer and closer. For Carlos, the gap between himself and getting through into Q3 was just 90 milliseconds, which is nothing in any world. Carlos did a brilliant job; it was about getting the tyres working and he was able to do so. It was a good effort in terms of trying various outlaps that led to the success of getting into Q2. With Alex, we tried a different direction and a different way of working the tyres, and we learned a lot thanks to his efforts. But it will come to us tomorrow. The car in a race condition should be better than where it is today. It also looks like there's rain on the forecast and in that condition, your qualifying place is less important than the ability to get the execution right on the day."

P13. Carlos Sainz: "After our struggles all weekend, I’ll take P13 today although it’s not ideal. We found some grip and put good laps in when it mattered, but it hurts to see we were less than a tenth from Q3. The lap was good, but a bit of traffic and dirty air in sector two probably cost us that extra bit. Anyways, I prefer to keep the positives from today and fully focus on tomorrow. There might be surprises with the weather, so we need to make sure we are ready to take any opportunity."

P20. Alex Albon: "We knew it was going to be a tough track for us here and it’s been one of those weekends where we’ve been chasing it and I haven’t felt that comfortable in the car. We went back to the FP1 car for Qualifying as that’s where I felt it was most predictable, but maybe the track has evolved since then. We were too slow on the outlap, then there was a bit of rear tyre degradation and other things, so it was a bit scrappy. It’s going to be tricky from P20 but maybe we will get some rain. Let’s see."

P11. Ollie Bearman: “There were tough conditions out there, it became overcast and there were drops of rain on the first run in Q2, and I didn’t quite put the lap together. Whenever you see raindrops on the visor, it gets a bit scary but also the track felt very different between runs, and I think I struggled to adapt really. I’m certainly optimistic though as the car felt good, I had a good feeling, and I have high hopes for tomorrow.”

P18. Esteban Ocon: “It was a disappointing session really, especially after that lap, I was expecting more. We need to investigate exactly why, as in Spa we were performing well, but here after FP1 we’ve struggled quite a lot to have decent performance. It shouldn’t be the case, but I was happy with my performance and my lap. It’s disappointing to be that far down the order, so we need to give it a better shot of understanding and getting a read on the issue.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: “Qualifying was very tight. In Q1, Esteban wasn’t completely happy with the car in certain corners, and that’s where he lost time. In the last two corners, he was actually quicker than Ollie, so he was almost there. He was happy with his lap, but not happy with the car, so we need to understand that. Ollie did a good job in Q1, getting into Q2. Conditions then changed a bit, he dealt with it very well in the first run, but then in the second run, there were very fine margins and he made a small mistake - enough to be out. It’s pretty disappointing because, at least on Ollie’s side, the feeling is good and the car is good enough for Q3. It’s difficult to overtake here, but we’ll do everything to get back into the points tomorrow.”