Charles Leclerc stuns McLaren with shock Hungarian GP pole

Charles Leclerc secured a sensational pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix, beating Oscar Piastri by only 26 milliseconds. The Ferrari driver, who set a lap time of 1:15.372, will be hoping to end a four-year streak of the pole sitter failing to claim victory at the Hungaroring. Lando Norris will start the race on the outskirts of Budapest from third, with George Russell alongside him on the second row of the grid. Aston Martin stunned, locking out row three with Fernando Alonso leading Lance Stroll. Yuki Tsunoda was consigned to another torrid grid-setting session, qualifying in only P16. It was his fourth Q1 knockout in the past eight rounds. Also out in Q1 was Pierre Gasly, who was outperformed by his embattled Alpine team-mate Franco Colapinto. The early exits did not end with the first part of qualifying; Lewis Hamilton endured his worst Saturday at the venue of his F1 career, failing to make it through to Q3 on pace alone for the first time. Report continues below. Q3 McLaren continued its comfortable domination at the start of the final part of qualifying, setting mid-1:15s with only Russell for company. The rest of the top 10 were only able to reach the 1:16s. Piastri took provisional pole from Norris by just under a tenth of a second. Verstappen, on used soft-compound tyres, sat in fifth behind Alonso. Stroll's first effort was deleted for track limits, and Isack Hadjar decided not to set a banker lap on used red-walled Pirellis. That did not matter for the Canadian, who joined his team-mate in defying expectations once the final push laps got underway. There was considerable disappointment for the McLarens and Max Verstappen, who could only go eighth fastest. The papaya pair could not improve on their final runs, leaving them vulnerable. And Leclerc seized the initiative Q2 The significant amount of gravel kicked up on the exit of Turn 12 during Q1 caused a slight delay to the start of the middle section of qualifying as the track was cleaned. When running did get underway, there was a queue to get out of the pit lane as the wet weather started to move in. Turn 1 and Turn 5 were two of the affected areas after rain was first spotted at the slow Turn 6, creating a rush to get times on the timing board in case conditions worsened. They ultimately did not, but not before Red Bull had reassured Verstappen that conditions would be at their best at the end of the 15-minute session. Nonetheless, the McLaren led the way with Norris setting a sublime 1:14.890, half a tenth quicker than Piastri in the other MCL39, from the Aston Martins in third and fourth. With the first laps in the books, the Ferraris and Kimi Antonelli looked most vulnerable to an early exit. Leclerc was P10 with Hamilton in P11, but Antonelli was down in P14, only ahead of Colapinto, who had his lap time deleted for track limits. The former set a solid if unspectacular second push lap to secure his place in Q3, but the latter two were consigned to a painful Q2 exit. Antonelli was slowest, with Hamilton hit by his worst qualifying at the Hungaroring in his F1 career. It is the first time he has failed to reach the final part of qualifying in Budapest on pace alone. OUT in Q2: P11 - Oliver Bearman, P12 - Lewis Hamilton, P13 - Carlos Sainz, P14 - Franco Colapinto, P15 - Kimi Antonelli Q1 The first segment of qualifying began with a 20% risk of rain as threatening clouds loomed to the West of Budapest. The Williams pair of Sainz and Alex Albon were the first to set times, with the former looking considerably more scruffy than his team-mate. Six minutes of the 18-minute session had elapsed before another driver got on the timing board, Verstappen taking the times into the mid-1:16s before promptly being bested by the McLarens in the 1:15s. In that intra-team fight, Piastri was almost four-tenths of a second clear of Norris. The Red Bulls, appearing to sport high-downforce rear wings - potentially in preparation for adverse weather conditions, either in qualifying or the grand prix - looked to be in trouble, as they did through the three practice hours. As the clock ticked towards zero, both the Milton Keynes squad's cars were in a precarious position, Verstappen in P13 and Tsunoda below the cut line in P17. The final Q1 push laps commenced it was the Ferrari duo who looked most at risk of being surprise eliminations. However, both Hamilton and Leclerc avoided disappointment, although Tsunoda could not. Likewise, Albon slumped to the bottom of the pack, where he was joined by Esteban Ocon, who was sent out for his final run with a screw in his tyre. OUT in Q1: P16 - Yuki Tsunoda, P17 - Pierre Gasly, P18 - Esteban Ocon, P19 - Nico Hulkenberg, P20 - Alex Albon.