Two accidents, rain, lots of action and also surprises. In the Hungary qualifying, Lando Norris takes the third pole of his career. Max Verstappen becomes the hunter.
Max Verstappen not only had to admit defeat to his friend and Formula 1 rival Lando Norris in the knockout round at the Hungaroring, but his teammate Oscar Piastri in the McLaren also raced ahead of the Dutch world championship leader in the Red Bull in Budapest.
“I tried, but we’ve been a bit behind all weekend. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough,” said Verstappen, who is a whopping 84 points ahead of Norris in the standings ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix this Sunday (3 p.m./Sky and RTL).
“I’m very happy, that wasn’t an easy qualifying,” said the World Championship runner-up after two accidents caused interruptions and rain made conditions difficult. Norris also looked ahead to the start of the race in less than 24 hours: “Two cars in the front row – we can control it from the front.”
Only 22 thousandths of a second separated the McLaren duo. The last time the traditional team had been on the front row of a starting grid with both cars was in 2012. Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari came fourth in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes and Charles Leclerc in the second Ferrari.
Verstappen not the fastest in training
Verstappen was 46 thousandths of a second behind Norris. He hadn’t been able to finish first in any of the three previous training sessions. The changes to his RB 20 didn’t seem to be paying off yet. And his team-mate Pérez, who is already on the ropes because of his poor performances in recent weeks, had only done moderately well before things went really wrong.
Suspense was therefore inevitable. Then it started to rain about an hour before the knockout round. All training sessions had been held in dry conditions and with asphalt temperatures of over 60 degrees at times – now it was not even 30 degrees. The air temperature was just under 25. There was no fresh data for these conditions, and extra cooling for the cars was initially unnecessary.
The track was nothing more than damp, however, and all drivers ventured out onto the track on slicks with no profile. Conditions that should have suited the resurgent Mercedes with record world champion and Hungaroring winner Hamilton in particular. He won eight times on the track and had been on pole nine times.
In the first period, Hamilton initially took the lead ahead of Sainz and Verstappen, before his teammate Pérez made the next serious mistake. He lost control of his car and crashed sideways into the track barrier with the Red Bull.
Pérez crash at the worst possible time for the vice world champion
For the Mexican, who is in danger of being eliminated from the Red Bull cockpit after a half-time analysis during the summer break, qualifying was over and he finished 16th, and the work for his mechanics in his garage really began.
George Russell in the Mercedes was also surprisingly caught out after the first 18 minutes, retiring in 17th place. “A disaster,” he commented. In 2022, he had taken pole in Hungary. This time, it was his own performance and the fact that they didn’t have enough fuel in the tank to finish the session.
The track became faster and so did Verstappen. In contrast to Hamilton, who managed to make it into the top ten with just a hundredth of a second ahead of eleventh-placed Nico Hülkenberg.
The decision about the pole and the fear of rain
Verstappen lost no time in the decisive section, he was the first to go out. Rain would start again and then a second chance would no longer be possible. And Verstappen took the lead. Norris and Piastri ultimately beat Verstappen’s best lap time before things got hectic when Yuki Tsunoda flew off the track in the Racing Bull and caused the next interruption. There were still a good two minutes to go. Verstappen didn’t even try. He couldn’t catch up with the McLaren duo.
Source: Stern
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
