F1: Norris takes pole position at Hungarian Grand Prix, Verstappen only third

Norris partira en pole position ce dimanche. HOCH ZWEI – HOCH ZWEI

the essential Lando Norris (McLaren) will start from pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday July 21 after setting the best qualifying time on Saturday July 20 at the Hungaroring (4,381 km).

The Briton narrowly beat his Australian teammate Oscar Piastri and the Dutch three-time world champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) by respectively 22 and 46 thousandths of a second.

Dominant since the start of the weekend, the papaya-colored single-seaters confirmed their status as favorites for the race with this double, the first since 2012, achieved at the end of a qualifying session disrupted by the rain and interrupted by two red flags after the accidents of the Mexican Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) in Q1 and the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) in Q3.

Also read: VIDEO. F1: Yuki Tsunoda's impressive accident causing his car to fly into the wall for several meters

"I am very happy and especially for the team because we made a double. It’s great to have both cars on the front line. The conditions were very tricky but I had a very good lap", explained Norris, who won the third pole position of his career, the second this year. The Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) will start in fourth position, ahead of the Briton Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and his Monegasque teammate Charles Leclerc within the Scuderia.

Russell released from Q1

The fourth row will be occupied by the two Aston Martins of the Spanish veteran Fernando Alonso and the Canadian Lance Stroll, while the top 10 is completed by the two Racing Bulls of the Australian Daniel Ricciardo and Tsunoda.

The big surprise of the day was the elimination in Q1 of George Russell (Mercedes), author of pole position during the last GP at Silverstone. The Briton, trapped by the rain, no longer had enough fuel to do a second quick lap when the track dried.

Also read: F1: at what time and on which channel to watch the Hungarian Grand Prix broadcast unencrypted and free on Sunday ?

The Mexican Sergio Pérez, threatened with losing his steering wheel if he does not improve his performance, has once again made a mistake which could cost him dearly. He lost control of his car which crashed into a wall of tires and he was also eliminated in Q1. His chassis being badly damaged, he could start from the pits on Sunday if his team was forced to replace him before the race.

The great nonsense from Alpine

On the French side, Alpine made a big strategic error by deciding not to return to the track at the end of Q1 when the grip conditions were improving and was severely punished since the two single-seaters from the French Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly will start in the last row.

After complicated free practice, qualifying, which had been rather promising until then, finally ended in a catastrophic manner and the French team will have a hard time reaching the top 10 on Sunday then that good weather is expected.