Hungary Grand Prix: Lando Norris secures pole as Hamilton, Antonelli face grid penalties

By Kwame Ofori — 25 July 2026 — 4 min read

Lando Norris of McLaren has clinched his first grand prix pole position of the season at the Hungarian Grand Prix. However, the race grid has seen significant changes due to penalties issued to several drivers, including Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli.

Hamilton received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri, Norris’s teammate, during qualifying. This penalty has moved Hamilton from his original second-place qualification to fifth on the starting grid. The incident occurred at the end of Q3 when Hamilton, having completed a fast lap, slowed down and appeared to block Piastri through Turn One as the McLaren driver began his final timed attempt.

Stewards reviewed video, telemetry, team radio, and in-car video evidence before determining that Hamilton had unnecessarily impeded Piastri. Hamilton stated he was not warned of Piastri’s approach until the latter was already in close proximity, believing everyone had finished their laps. Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur took responsibility for the error, stating that the team’s warning to Hamilton was “far too late.”

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli also faced a three-place grid penalty. He was penalised for not slowing sufficiently under single yellow flags, which were deployed following a spin by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at the final corner. Antonelli, who initially qualified fourth, will now start seventh, behind his Mercedes teammate George Russell.

These penalties have reshuffled the top ten starting positions for the race. Norris will start from pole, with Charles Leclerc of Ferrari moving up to second. Piastri will begin the race in third, and Max Verstappen, who originally qualified sixth, will start fourth. George Russell is set to start sixth, ahead of Antonelli.

Qualifying Session Details

Norris secured pole position by a narrow margin of 0.012 seconds. He expressed satisfaction with his performance, noting that his laps in Q3 were not his best, making his pole position a pleasant surprise. Hamilton had been fastest on the first runs, just over 0.1 seconds ahead of Norris, but neither he nor Leclerc could improve on their final attempts.

Hamilton described his final lap as his “worst lap of all,” attributing it to a snap into Turn One that put him down by 0.15 seconds early on. He felt the car had the potential for pole but he “didn’t deliver.” Verstappen’s spin impacted Antonelli and Russell, forcing them to slow, though stewards deemed Antonelli’s reduction in speed insufficient.

The Hungaroring track surface presented challenges for all drivers, particularly in the final two corners, where Norris highlighted the difficulty in judging grip levels. Russell also encountered an issue during his final run, with a water leak spraying water onto his rear tyres, leading Mercedes to ask him to pull over immediately after crossing the line to prevent engine damage.

Alonso’s Optimism and Team Progress

In other developments, Fernando Alonso made a significant breakthrough for Aston Martin. The team, debuting a virtually new car, saw Alonso progress out of the first session for the first time this season. He will start 16th, 2.8 seconds off pole, a relative pace two seconds faster than the team had achieved recently.

Alonso expressed relief and optimism, stating that the team has understood the car’s weaknesses and is moving in the right direction. He noted that previous updates early in the season had not yielded significant improvements, and the team had experienced two years of disappointment with upgrades. This recent progress has fostered a change in optimism within the factory.

The veteran Spaniard also commented on the future of Aston Martin, expressing confidence in technical partner Adrian Newey’s ability to lead the team to success. He believes it is a matter of time before the team has the best chassis and Honda has the best engine in F1, though he questioned whether this would happen soon enough for him. Alonso faces a decision this summer regarding his career beyond the current season.

The Hungarian Grand Prix race is scheduled for Sunday, with build-up beginning at 12:30 pm.