Emotional Hamilton beats Verstappen to first pole since 2021
The seven-time world champion snatched pole away from Verstappen by just 0.003s with his final lap of Q3 to top a qualifying session for the first time since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Hamilton pipped his great rival in an epic qualifying showdown that echoed their incredible 2021 title battle to claim his 104th career pole and his ninth at the Hungaroring, marking a new record for most poles at the same circuit.
A brilliant effort from Lando Norris saw the McLaren driver get within 0.085s of pole, but the Briton ultimately had to settle with third ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri.
Zhou Guanyu enjoyed his strongest F1 qualifying performance as the Alfa Romeo driver claimed a shock fifth ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Valtteri Bottas pipped Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso to seventh by just 0.001s to cap off an incredible showing for Alfa Romeo.
Sergio Perez reached Q3 for the first time since Miami but could only manage the ninth-fastest time, while Nico Hulkenberg was just half a second off pole as he rounded out the top-10 for Haas.
Daniel Ricciardo will start his comeback F1 race with AlphaTauri from 13th after a solid first qualifying since Abu Dhabi last year as teammate Yuki Tsunoda could only manage 17th.
Meanwhile, George Russell suffered a shock elimination in Q1 and was dumped out in 18th, prompting Mercedes boss Toto Wolff to slam his fist against his table in frustration.
Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix takes place at 3pm.
