Charles Leclerc was left speechlessly after pinching the pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris with a sizzling last round in Q3.
Leclerc finished third in all three practice sessions at the Hungaroring behind the dominant McLaren directors and was a distant sixth after his first round in the shootout, with a provisional wrist-pooler Piaastri with 1.2S. But in rapidly changing circumstances and when the ambient temperatures are falling, the Ferrari car came to life and when neither McLaren could improve their first times, the door was open for the Monaco that was native to the top spot in Rocket.
Leclerc did not succeed in setting up a purple time in one of the three sectors, but found a stunning 1,258 with his last round to set the benchmark on 1M15,372S. He was the only driver in Q3 to improve his Q2 time, and it was enough to overcome the fastest round of Piastri by a small but decisive 0.026s.
It left Leclerc shocked and he was crazy about team radio after he was told that he had awarded the qualification.
“Today I don’t understand anything in Formula 1,” he said. “To be honest, the entire qualification has been extremely difficult – and if I say extremely difficult, it is not exaggerating.
“In Q3 the circumstances changed a bit. Everything became a lot more difficult, and I knew that I just had to make a clean round to go in third place, and at the end of the day it was pole position. I certainly did not expect that.
“I have no words. It is probably one of the best polar positions I have ever had, because it is one of the most unexpected.”
Leclerc had to his Ferrari Manhandel, but it still worked much further than his expectations. Joe Portlock/Getty Images
With catching up difficult around the narrow hunger, Leclerc has a strong chance of turning Ferrari’s first post of the year into his first victory.
“The beginning and turn 1 will be the key,” he said. “I have no idea how it will go.
“One thing is certain: I will definitely do everything to keep that first place. If we succeed, that would have to make our lives easier for the rest of the race.”
Piastri was surprised to see McLaren’s benefit solving so suddenly, the Australian who blamed the wind for the immediate loss of the team’s performance.
“It always sounds so pathetic to blame the wind, but the wind actually did a 180 from Q2 to Q3,” he said. “It meant that many of the corners felt completely different.
“My first round in Q3 felt pretty terrible because I wasn’t used to it. I thought the second round was a lot better, but it was even slower. Maybe not the best performance, but I was a bit surprised that we couldn’t go faster than that. Second is still a decent place to start. We will see what we can do tomorrow.”
Norris has set the fastest qualifying time but in Q2. Unable to match that effort in Q3, he qualified third and 0.041s for the post.
“Q2, I think we showed how fast we could go and our advantage, but as soon as the wind changed, everything went away,” he said. “Charles has done a good job the last round, probably a little more in these circumstances.”
George Russell will start fourth for Mercedes after having beaten only 0.053s from Leclerc to share the second row with Norris.
Aston Martin produced a stunning turnaround from his back-of-grid performance in Belgium to get both cars in Q3, with Fernando Alonso Lance walk in the fifth and sixth, both closely corresponding slightly more than 0.1s of the pace.
Gabriel Bortoleto made his third Q3 appearance the last four Grands Prix for Sauber for Sauber to qualify the seventh for Max Verstappen. The world champion never looked like a real polar candidate, even though he had been Leclerc after their first rounds of the shootout, and complained that the lack of grip of his car was “as literally on ice”.
Racing Bulls teammates Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar completed the top 10.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli was beaten in 11th place in the fast -strengthening job conditions late in Q2, the Italian only 0.006s short before a berth in the top 10 after complaining about no rear grip. Antonelli was then relegated to the 15th because he had removed his fastest round for track limits, making him the last in the second quarter.
Oliver Bearman was promoted to the 11th for Lewis Hamilton, whose best round was spoiled by a series of uppery fences in the last sector, making him 0.247’s short on Leclerc in that segment.
Carlos Sainz is 13th ahead of Franco Colapinto in the 14th. It is the first time that Colapinto has eliminated Gasly since the Canadian Grand Prix and only his second time in general. It is only the third time that Gasly has been qualified behind a teammate this year, with the third the result of Jack Doohan in Miami.
Yuki Tsunoda was hit at the very last moment in the first quarter, missing one progression with only 0.024s when the track increased considerably in the last minutes of the segment and those who completed their laps later came for the better.
It is the third time of the last five Grands Prix that the Japanese driver is eliminated in the bottom five. He will set the 16th place for the Grand Prix.
Gasly was 17th for a retiring Esteban Ocon, who reported a screw in his right -hand band when he left Pit Lane for his last round.
Nico Hulkenberg was a surprise 19th after he looked competitive during the 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 from a shot in Q2.
Result
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