FACTS AND STATS: A record-breaking ninth pole at the Hungaroring for Hamilton as Perez ends Q3 drought

Qualifying in Hungary saw the first trial of Pirelli’s new ‘Alternative Tyre Allocation’ format. The tyres might have started out the main talking point, but by the end everyone was marvelling at Lewis Hamilton being back on pole for the first time in a long time. He starts ahead of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, ending the Dutchman’s streak of pole positions. Here are all the rest of the best facts and stats from Budapest…

• The top 10 were separated by just 0.577s, exactly tying the closest top 10 in F1 history, from Brazil 2003.

• Lewis Hamilton scored a record-breaking ninth pole at the Hungaroring, the most by any driver at one circuit in the history of F1.

• Hamilton’s 104th career pole position ends the longest streak of his career without a pole, which came to 33 races between Jeddah 2021 and Hungary 2023.

READ MORE: Hamilton ecstatic with breakthrough Hungary pole after ‘big rollercoaster ride’ amid Mercedes’ recent struggles

• It is the fourth consecutive pole position for Mercedes at this track.

• Max Verstappen has only his second front row start here, after his pole back in 2019. His P2 ends a run of five straight pole positions.

• The winner of this race has only come from second on the grid once in the last 12 races here, which was when Hamilton won from P2 in 2016.

• Lando Norris has his fourth top-four start in the last five races.

• Oscar Piastri made it two McLarens in the top four on the grid for the second straight race.

• Zhou Guanyu was fifth, improving his career-best qualifying by four places. He hadn’t reached Q3 all season until today.

HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the action from qualifying in Budapest as Hamilton takes last gap pole position

• The Ferrari-powered Alfa Romeo out-qualified both Ferraris in the hands of Zhou.

• Charles Leclerc was sixth, winding up outside the top five for the third time in the last five race weekends.

• Valtteri Bottas qualified P7, for his 10th consecutive top-10 start at the Hungaroring, his best run at any track.

• Fernando Alonso was eighth but remains the only driver to reach Q3 at every race this season.

• Sergio Perez made it to Q3 for the first time in the last six races, and in ninth starts two places higher than last year.

• Nico Hulkenberg scored his sixth Q3 appearance of the season.

• Carlos Sainz started on the front row last year, but his Q2 elimination was his first since Jeddah 2021, ending a 33-race streak.

• The Spaniard was only 0.375s away from the best time in Q2, and yet was still eliminated.

• Esteban Ocon was 12th, his third straight Q2 elimination.

• Daniel Ricciardo’s P13 marked AlphaTauri’s best qualifying performance in the last five races. He also ended the team’s three-race streak without getting a car into Q2.

• Lance Stroll was 14th, the fourth time he’s failed to make Q3 this year.

• Pierre Gasly’s 15th was the first time he’s been eliminated in Q2 this year – he has been eliminated in Q1 three times though.

• George Russell was on pole here last year, but suffered a Q1 exit in 2023. It meant he was out-qualified by a team mate at the Hungaroring for the first time.

• Alex Albon was knocked out in Q1 after three straight Q3 appearances.

READ MORE: Formula 1 to race in Hungary until 2032

• Yuki Tsunoda has now been eliminated in Q1 for four consecutive race weekends for the first time in his career.

• Kevin Magnussen suffered his fifth Q1 exit in the last six races.

• Logan Sargeant as the slowest car in Q1 was just 1.105s behind the quickest car in Q1, which is the second smallest gap in history, behind Austria 2023.