Lando Norris bounced back as McLaren claimed surprise pole position at the Hungarian GP

Lando Norris’ pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix came as an unexpected bonus for McLaren, with team principal Andrea Stella admitting that Ferrari remain favorites for Sunday’s race despite the reigning world champion’s outstanding performance in qualifying.

Norris produced a stunning final lap at the Hungaroring to secure his first pole position of the 2026 Formula 1 season and become the first non-Mercedes driver this year to reach the top qualifier. The result also marked a big boost for McLaren after it unveiled performance upgrades this weekend.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will start alongside Norris on the front row after team-mate Lewis Hamilton dropped three places for holding up McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in qualifying. Piastri, who had originally qualified fourth, moved up to third after Mercedes championship leader Kimi Antonelli was also handed a three-place grid penalty for not slowing down enough under yellow flags.

Despite dropping two of the first three positions on the grid, Stella insisted McLaren were not getting carried away.

“It’s a nice surprise,” Stella told Sky Sports. “We had some improvements here and we could see they were working well. We added a few tenths to the car but we never thought it would be enough to get the car on pole.”

The McLaren boss believes Ferrari still hold the lead ahead of Sunday’s race, especially after neither Leclerc nor Hamilton could improve on their second flying lap in Q3.

“Frankly, Ferrari remain the favorites tomorrow. They didn’t improve at the second attempt either in qualifying, so I think they left a bit of power on the table,” said Stella.

“We take the encouraging signs from today’s result but remain realistic. There is still a lot of work to do before we are in this position permanently.”

Norris echoed his team boss’s assessment, admitting that McLaren had exceeded expectations after a tough run of qualifying performances.

“I’m pleasantly surprised,” Norris said. “The car performed very well and the team did a great job with the new improvements. We definitely wouldn’t be here without them.”

However, the Briton expects Ferrari to pose a big challenge over the racing distance.

“They’ve been fast all season, so I’m still expecting a tough race,” Norris said. “They did Q1 on the medium tire so it will be interesting to see what tire they start on tomorrow. They could potentially be in a bit better position in some things.”

With overtaking expected to be difficult at the Hungaroring, Norris will be hoping to turn the field into victory, but Ferrari’s presence on the front row and reputation for good starts ensure Sunday’s race remains open.

– The end

Issued by:

Amar Panicker

Published on:

25 Jul 2026 23:44 IST