Lando Norris edged teammate Oscar Piastri to steer a McLaren front-row lockout forward of Max Verstappen after Sergio Perez crashed out of qualifying and George Russell was knocked out in Q1.
Norris stored cool all through the marathon 85-minute qualifying session that includes two crimson flags and a number of other bursts of rain to set only one lap in Q3 that proved unbeatable.
The Briton set the benchmark at 1m15.227s along with his first lap forward of Verstappen and Piastri, however solely the latter two acquired an opportunity to set a second lap within the pole shootout. Piastri made the largest achieve, closing to inside 0.022s of his teammate, whereas Verstappen dropped to 3rd with a 0.046s deficit.
Norris was lining up on observe to underline his provisional pole when Yuki Tsunoda crashed exhausting exiting Flip 5. Tsunoda was on his last flying lap when he ran broad exiting the lengthy right-hander, the place the curbs and astroturf launched his RB briefly airborne and into he barrier, dealing it large harm.
Tsunoda bounces off the curb and collects some signage earlier than grinding to a halt 😰
A scary second for the RB driver#F1 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/zfMhqsBfQ4
— System 1 (@F1) July 20, 2024
Tsunoda walked away from the wreckage unhurt, and a quick crimson flag was required to clear the particles with simply over 2m remaining.
Verstappen opted to not rejoin the session after the flag, appropriately predicting that used tires would yield no significant enchancment. A lot of the discipline aborted their last lap, locking within the order with Norris on prime.
“Very, very completely satisfied,” he stated. “Not a simple qualifying — totally different situations however at all times ending up on prime.
“I’m completely satisfied, particularly for the staff. A one two is even higher to see, so congrats to the staff.”
Piastri lamented lacking pole by such a superb margin but in addition praised the staff for delivering its first front-row lockout for a grand prix in 12 years.
“The primary one-two in qualifying for McLaren for a really very long time — I’m very completely satisfied,” he stated. “After all while you miss out by 0.02s you consider what you can perform a little bit higher, however an incredible end result for the staff.”
Verstappen was disillusioned to fall quick regardless of his RB20 receiving heavy upgrades this weekend.
“The entire weekend I believe we’ve been a little bit bit behind, and I believe that was additionally the case in qualifying,” he stated. “I attempted to make it as shut as attainable, however sadly simply not sufficient. It’s a bit troublesome to pinpoint why that’s.”
If Verstappen’s third was disappointing for Crimson Bull Racing and its upgrades, Perez’s newest lamentable end result was irritating. The Mexican’s afternoon lasted simply 11 minutes earlier than the under-pressure Crimson Bull Racing driver spun himself into the boundaries at Flip 8.
Perez took a large line into the quick left-hander, delivering along with his right-hand wheels on the damp entry curb. The automotive snapped from underneath him as quickly as he tried to tip the automotive into the nook, swapping ends and crunching backwards into the far wall.
Perez stepped out unscathed however along with his already broken repute additional battered. He finally tumbled to sixteenth on the grid, his fourth Q1 elimination from the final six grands prix.
With out the second RB20 within the combine, Carlos Sainz certified fourth alongside Verstappen, although Ferrari was in a distinct league, lapping 0.469s off pole.
Lewis Hamilton certified fifth — his was the only remaining Mercedes after a method blunder (see extra under) left teammate Russell out in seventeenth — forward of Charles Leclerc on the third row, the pair greater than 0.6s off the tempo.
Aston Martin teammates Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll will share the fourth row in seventh and eighth respectively.
Daniel Ricciardo was the one driver to enhance after Tsunoda’s crimson flag, securing ninth on the grid forward of his crashed-out teammate in tenth.
Nico Hulkenberg will line up eleventh after lacking out on a 3rd successive Q3 look by 0.01s.
Valtteri Bottas certified twelfth forward of Williams teammates Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant, with Kevin Magnussen eradicated in fifteenth.
Perez will line up sixteenth, and the crimson flag deployed to clear up the wreckage of his RB20 outlined the drivers who will begin behind him.
Q1 resumed with slightly below seven minutes on the clock and with the observe having been doused by a contemporary bathe through the suspension, however many of the discipline took to the circuit to be able to capitalize on drying situations.
Russell was among the many first in what ended up being a strategic howler by Mercedes, which didn’t gas him sufficiently to make it to the checkered flag. It meant the Briton missed the very best of the situations and was eradicated seventeenth.
