What the teams said – Qualifying in Hungary

McLaren

Norris topped FP3 in the dry, but as qualifying began in falling rain, must have wondered if his pace advantage would hold. The answer was yes it would, Norris looking in sublime form through all three segments and not needing a second lap in Q3 which was just as well with the conditions ever changing. Piastri’s first lap in Q3 wasn’t enough for the front row but he just squeezed another one in before the red flags to make it a McLaren front row lock-out.

READ MORE: Norris bullish about victory chances after sealing pole in Hungary while Piastri predicts ‘fight amongst ourselves’

Lando Norris, 1st, 1:15.227

"I’m very happy with that! It wasn’t an easy qualifying session with the constant changing conditions, but we’ve been improving steadily and have come into this weekend confident that we can do a good job. Congratulations to the team – having a 1-2 here is brilliant and a great reward for everyone’s hard work.

"Looking ahead to tomorrow, the conditions may be different again, but we’re in the best position to cope with whatever the weather delivers. The car is going fine, I feel like I’m driving well and we’re looking forward to putting in another strong performance on track."

Oscar Piastri, 2nd, 1:15.249

"Very cool to be on the front row and a great result for the team. My final lap was a good one, though to miss out on pole by a couple of hundredths, you’re always thinking of the small things you could have done a little better.

"We had a bit of a tricky day on my side of the garage yesterday, but everyone worked hard, and it was nice to bounce back well this morning. We then built on that this afternoon with a positive Quali in challenging conditions. Let’s start strong tomorrow and secure a mega result for the team!"

Andrea Stella, Team Principal

"This is a great qualifying result for the team both at track and back in Woking and a testament to the consistent effort and resilience they have shown this season. To have both drivers on the front row says so much about our driver line-up and the pace of the car of which the whole team can be proud.

"Of course, now our attention turns to the race, which is the result that really matters. We have put ourselves in the best possible starting position, but there are many factors both inside and outside our control to now navigate and for that we now prepare."

Red Bull

Verstappen was a shade off Norris in FP3, and came into qualifying as a slight underdog when compared to the McLarens. That’s how it unfolded for him as they always seemed to have a smidgen too much pace. Even in the wet-dry ever-changing conditions the Dutchman didn’t have an answer to the two papaya cars, but starting third he is still in a great position for the Grand Prix – especially when considering his race pace yesterday in the hot conditions looked good. As for Perez, he took too much kerb in the wet in Q1, spinning off into the barriers for a second straight Q1 elimination – not the result he was after with the pressure firmly ramping up.

READ MORE: ‘It cannot happen again’ says Perez as he reflects on Budapest crash that caused fourth Q1 exit in six races

Max Verstappen, 3rd, 1:15.273

“I was a bit frustrated we ended up with P3 today, but showing emotion shows I really care about our performance and doing well. The long runs we did in the practice session today have been okay; we have been working throughout the weekend to find the right balance within the car but we still have work to do and need to be realistic. When the session had a red flag in Q3, we had used a new set of tyres already so there was no point in going out again as we wouldn’t have improved on our lap time. I was hoping for a bit more from qualifying but we can assess and see what we can do to get the best out of the car a bit better and improve the pace. Today we ultimately didn’t optimise our performance: we will work with the Team to see what we can do ahead of tomorrow and make sure we have a better race day. I’m glad Checo is okay and it was a shame he crashed as he was having a decent weekend up until that point. It should be a bit warmer tomorrow as well and we see what the race brings."

Sergio Perez, 16th, 1:17.886

“This is a difficult one to digest, track conditions were tricky, but the track was getting better as the runs progressed and unfortunately on the entry I clipped the curb and became a passenger. I know I let my Team down once again and the most important thing is to recover quickly from today. You run out of words to say but you have to stick with the positives, I am trying my best to get out of this difficult moment, there are things I can control and things I cannot. Today I messed up but tomorrow is a new day and a new opportunity. The positive thing is the pace has been there this weekend, we were the fastest in the long run on Friday. It hurts more because the weekend had been so strong up until now and I am more determined than ever to get back to where we belong as a Team.”

Christian Horner, Team Principal

"A mixed bag in qualifying today. It was very close, the McLaren’s were very quick, so congratulations to them for their one/two. Max did very well and is a good position for tomorrow. There hasn’t been a winner off pole here since 2020 with Lewis so its all to play for. A great shame to lose Checo in that first qualifying session but third on the grid is ok for tomorrow’s race. It will be an interesting one.”

Ferrari

After Leclerc’s tricky Friday, Saturday went much better for the Monegasque driver. He made Q3 with relative ease, as did Sainz who always seemed slightly more comfortable around this track. Both had two sets of fresh tyres for Q3, with their grid slots accurately reflecting their relative pace on a day where mistakes could have easily been made. Sainz had the edge in the end to the tune of a couple of tenths.

Charles Leclerc, 6th, 1:15.905

"P6 is not a result I am happy with. My lap in Q3 was not the cleanest, but after the red flag, we knew it would be really hard to improve and we gave it a shot anyway. I think it was the best we could do today.

"Overall, we have to work on regaining the pace we had at the start of the season. Tomorrow, we will push to maximise our team points and we will see where that leads us."

Carlos Sainz, 4th, 1:15.696

"We had a good qualifying overall, with very solid laps every time I was on track, pushing our car to the limit. We've improved a bit this weekend, but looking at the timesheet I think today's P4 was the best result we could achieve.

"Tomorrow we need to be extremely focused the entire race because there could be opportunities and we need to make sure we are there to take them. Let’s race!"

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal

"Today’s result reflects the situation in terms of the hierarchy among the teams. McLaren were quick in all conditions and they deserve to be on the front row, while we need to focus on ourselves. During free practice the track temperature was almost 60 degrees and then for qualifying, we had a light shower at the start and it was much cooler, and this made the session more difficult to manage, even if the conditions are the same for everyone.

"Of course, it would be better to start near the front, but from P4 and P6 we can still score good points and aim for the podium, as we think we have a competitive race pace. It’s not as difficult as it used to be to overtake here, especially with the second DRS zone so we must see what we can do tomorrow in what will be a tyre management race, as it is expected to be warm again. It’s clear we still need to push on our car development to catch up with those who are in front but meanwhile we have to maximise the points haul in tomorrow’s race."

Mercedes

Russell’s qualifying got off to a terrible start, as he couldn’t extract any pace from his W15 on multiple push laps. In trouble, he came back out after the red flags on a wetter track, and improved on his first run. But he ran out of fuel to complete his second run as the track dried further and thus was knocked out at the first time of asking. Hamilton scraped through to Q3 to spare the team’s blushes on a day where Mercedes seemed unusually flustered, but could only do enough to secure fifth to end their run of four straight poles here.

Lewis Hamilton, 5th, 1:15.854

"It’s been very difficult to find a balance with the car this weekend where it’s not snappy. That has likely been exacerbated by the heat but, even in the cooler conditions today, we still struggled. It was a real challenge to get the tyres working and we couldn’t quite get them to where we wanted. If we had optimised everything, we could have likely gone one tenth or two quicker, but we didn’t have enough to challenge for pole position today.

"Tomorrow is forecast to be, like Friday, very warm. That will make it a challenge, but everyone is in the same boat. It will be interesting to see where our speed is relative to those around us. Our long run pace in practice was solid but we will have to wait and see where we fall out tomorrow."

George Russell, 17th, 1:17.968

"We didn’t do a good enough job today. I was unable to put a lap together earlier in Q1 and that had left us vulnerable near the cut-off. After the red flag, we were on track at its most damp and then we didn’t have enough fuel complete a push lap as it was at its most dry. We should have been comfortably through and that is frustrating. We shouldn’t have been in that position though in the first place and that’s on me. We will go through it tonight to understand what happened, what went wrong, and how to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

"P17 is clearly not where we should be qualifying. We should have a car to battle back into the points tomorrow though. We have shown good speed throughout practice and our long run pace was encouraging. Tomorrow is a new day, and we will see what we can achieve."

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

"That was a very disappointing Qualifying session for us today. It was a total underperformance from all of us. Losing a car in Q1 is clearly not acceptable. George struggled to get in a solid lap earlier in the session and we didn’t execute the final run at all. That stemmed from a lack of solid communication between ourselves and the driver. We need to ensure we learn from this so that it doesn’t happen again.

"Lewis made it through to Q3 but ultimately, we didn’t have the pace to challenge for much more than P5. We were likely a couple of tenths slower than those ahead in normal conditions anyway, but we were struggling to get on top of the tyre temperatures. It was tricky to find the middle ground and that likely cost us a few more tenths. We need to dust ourselves down and come back stronger tomorrow. It will be a long race so hopefully we can create some opportunities."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

"It was a very frustrating day today. We didn't manage the session well and because of that, George was knocked out in Q1. We will review all the communications to understand how we can learn from our mistakes but ultimately, we weren't joined up and sent the car too early for the fuel we had in the tank.

"Lewis finished in a more representative position but aside from the early lap in the damp, the car just wasn't working particularly well in the lower track temperatures. We were struggling with an oversteer balance from relatively early in the lap, which was then getting away from us in the final two sectors. That cost us a lot of time but, even with the car in a better window, it's unlikely that we'd have been troubling any of the top three today.

"We've left ourselves with a fair bit of work to do tomorrow. With Lewis, we'll be looking to see if we can get him into a position to fight for a podium. With George, we'll be looking for ways to get him back into the points and hopefully the upper reaches."

Aston Martin

Aston Martin adopted the unusual strategy of using up some medium tyres in FP3 and thus saving an extra set of softs for qualifying. They used those to good effect in Q2 to get both cars into Q3, something that had looked a tall order yesterday such was their lack of pace here. Locking out the fourth row is a solid result and sets them up for a second double-score in a row following Silverstone.

Fernando Alonso, 7th, 1:16.043

“I think we have to be pleased with seventh and eighth positions today and both cars inside the top ten again. We brought some updates to the car this weekend and it appears to have made us more competitive so far. We also made some setup tweaks overnight to accommodate the new package and these worked well. The conditions out there were really challenging, with some rain in the air and then there was some confusion at the end of the session during the red flag conditions. The points are given out tomorrow though, so let's see if we can deliver a good result in the race.”

Lance Stroll, 8th, 1:16.244

“It's good to get both cars through to Q3 in Hungary. The team made some set-up changes overnight, but the track temperature cooling down does seem to have helped us too. Q1 was pretty interesting: I was in P16 with the rain coming down, but we went back out and I put a good lap on the board just as the track was drying. That's why we love mixed conditions during Qualifying! In Q3, we saw some rain on the radar so we chose to use the new tyres for the first run. It wasn't the cleanest lap of my session, but we can fight for points from P8. Everyone across the team has pushed hard to get these updates on the car, so we'll aim to keep this momentum going in the race tomorrow.”

Mike Krack, Team Principal

“P7 and P8 on the grid sets us up nicely for a strong race tomorrow. Both drivers did a good job across all the sessions with clean and tidy laps, especially during the damp Q1. There has been a huge push in all areas of the team to get the updates to this event so a big 'thank you' to everybody trackside, back at base, and across our supplier network for their efforts. It was unusual to see the pit lane obstructed in the final minutes of the Qualifying session [after the red flag] with both our cars being impacted, so that is something that needs to be looked at.”

RB

Ricciardo’s qualifying started badly with a brake issue hampering him in Q1, leaving the Aussie in the drop zone when the rain intensified. Up against it, he came out late on and improved to make Q2 and from there made Q3 more comfortably. Tsunoda joined him in the top 10 shootout, with both completing their first runs on used tyres. But on new rubber, Tsunoda lost control and hit the barriers heavily. He was okay but it remains to be seen if his car is – and that cost Ricciardo any realistic chance of taking the fight to the Aston Martins ahead.

Daniel Ricciardo, 9th, 1:16.447

“It was definitely a long and tricky qualifying, and I’m relieved to hear everyone is okay after the crashes that happened. While we were out on track in Q1 it started raining more, but then we had a Red Flag, and the track dried a little bit. We went out again after that and finished P1, which was a good moment. I’m happy that as a team we made it into Q3 with both cars as we’ve been quick all weekend. If there wasn’t another Red Flag in Q3, and we’d be able to push on the new tyres, I feel maybe we could’ve gained a couple more positions. Looking at tomorrow, I don’t think it’s the case of us trying to hang on to the points from where we start, I firmly believe that we can be even better in the race, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Yuki Tsunoda, 10th, 1:16.477

“It’s a big shame and I'm disappointed. My lap in Q3 was really good, I was feeling great. I was on the limit and half the tyre went on the grass, which is normal, but because it was wet it got exaggerated. Until that corner, the lap felt great. I’m sorry because everyone in the team and myself deserve a higher position for all the work we’ve done. The car felt great, and the lap was solid, and I reckon it could’ve put us in a great position for tomorrow. Congrats to the team for being able to go through to Q3 with both cars.”

Guillaume Dezoteux, Head of Vehicle Performance

“FP3 was productive, especially for Yuki, who couldn't really run yesterday afternoon in FP2. It was a pretty straightforward session, focused on quali preparation, and both cars confirmed the good performance shown yesterday. Quali was indeed not that easy, and tense. We started on a damp surface with variable light rain around the track, which was drying extremely fast, allowing dry tyres to be used straight from the beginning of the session. Q1 was strong, with both cars comfortably getting through to Q2, with Daniel ending the session in P1 after the Red Flag. Q2 just confirmed our good pace, and Yuki and Daniel finished in P8 and P9 respectively, making it to Q3. Unfortunately, in his last attempt, Yuki went wide at the exit of Turn 5 and crashed heavily into the barriers. His lap was looking very strong up to that point, so it's disappointing but luckily, he's okay. There is a lot of work ahead for the mechanics, but we are confident we will get the car ready for the race tomorrow. Daniel managed to improve after the Red Flag but the time remaining until the end of the session was very tight and his last lap had a little bit of traffic to Piastri in front. He managed to get P9 ahead of Yuki, so we are in a good position for the race. We are expecting a hotter track tomorrow and tyre management will play an important part. Let's hope to finish with both cars in the points, which would reward a strong weekend here in Budapest.”

Haas

Haas had Hulkenberg solidly in the top 10 in FP3, and went into qualifying full of confidence. The German found himself in the drop zone late on in Q1, and managed to improve with the pressure on to make Q2. But he could go no further, just missing out by 0.010s. Nonetheless, P11 is a decent starting slot and he could yet inherit a place if Tsunoda’s car needs new parts to make it to the start line tomorrow.

Nico Hulkenberg, 11th, 1:16.317

“We were on the back foot, having to wait our turn and not squeeze in. It’s not great from where we are in the pitlane because we got compromised, but it’s really difficult to get the timing right anyway, it was too close for comfort today. Nonetheless, we crossed the line before the chequered flag and got our lap in, but it was certainly challenging. It wasn’t the pace that compromised me, it was the fact I only had used tyres in Q2, we used them already in Q1 but without that, I would’ve sailed through."

Kevin Magnussen, 15th, 1:16.548

“I think we had a car for Q3. We were just the last car out of the pitlane and with all the gaps being created I ran out of time and had to effectively push like it was my quali lap, so by the time you’ve got there you’ve already done a hard-pushing lap. There’s easily a lot of lap time lost from that, and we were only two-tenths from Q3, so that’s what cost us I think. I feel like ever since FP2 we’ve been really quick, so I’m annoyed we couldn’t put it in Q3 with the pace we feel we’ve got.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

“Unfortunately, it was quite a frustrating day. You could see our potential from FP2 and FP3, the car had the speed. It was a tricky session to manage, but that wasn’t our best qualifying session in terms of managing it. We got both cars into Q2, the minimum was done, but we had the speed to get into Q3. Nico’s lap time in Q2 with used tyres, he missed Q3 by one hundredth, so for sure if he had a new set of tyres he would’ve made it through, also for Kevin too.

"Operationally, we didn’t quite put it together today and we know how important qualifying is in Hungary, so it’s a bit deflating right now. The good thing is even on a very low-speed, high-downforce circuit, which isn’t our strength, the car is competitive.”

Williams

Both Williams drivers were left frustrated after making Q2. In truth Sargeant was lucky to get there after sliding off in Q1 and clonking the barriers with his front wing, leading to some front suspension fixes in the garage. But in Q2, they both felt they had been sent out too late and thus had to contend with traffic on their flying runs – but whether they had enough pace for Q3 had they had fresh air remains an unknown.

HIGHLIGHTS: Relive qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix as Norris takes pole and Perez and Tsunoda crash out

Alex Albon, 13th, 1:16.429

"There was definitely more in it today; I got caught in dirty air for most of Q2 and as I was starting my lap, others were on their outlaps, so it was difficult with the traffic. You need everything to align around here, and we didn’t get the most out of it today, so it’s frustrating. It’s going to be a long race tomorrow with the degradation being quite high as we’ve seen from the F2 and F3 races, so there will be a lot of pit stops and just the battle for clean air which is vital around this circuit. It’s frustrating to finish the day like this but we’ll work with what we’ve got tomorrow."

Logan Sargeant, 14th, 1:16.543

"It was an eventful Qualifying. I was really happy with the first lap I did when it was spitting a bit of rain. I wasn’t so happy with my mistake on the second lap, and I must say a big thanks to the team for doing a great job to get the car turned around to go back out again. We had a lot more pace in it in Q2, but I had dirty air in every sector with people staying in front of you longer than they need to and putting dirty air on your front wing. There are tenths in that around this track so it’s excessively detrimental here, especially with the overheating you get. I’m disappointed for myself and for the team as I know we had a lot more in it today, but we’ll move on and fight tomorrow."

Sven Smeets, Sporting Director

"The weather made Qualifying a bit more exciting than what many expected today. Light rain on and off made it hard to read the track conditions, but the best moments were probably at the start and end of Q1. Logan’s first timed lap was mega, and this would be enough to move into Q2 whereas Alex made it through with a great lap right at the end. Unfortunately, in Q2 we didn’t get it all right for the push lap, finding too much traffic around the track but both cars are in a good position to fight for points tomorrow. Tyre management, pitstops and finding clean air will be crucial tomorrow as the temperatures should pick up again."

Kick Sauber

Kick Sauber had a sizeable upgrade package here, and Bottas put it to good use in making Q2. He wasn’t far off a Q3 berth either – just missing out on the chance of knocking his former team mate Hamilton out. Zhou couldn’t join him there, exiting in Q1 for the 11th time this season. At a track where overtaking is tricky, the Chinese racer will have his work cut out from towards the back of the field.

Valtteri Bottas, 12th, 1:16.384

“I am happy with how today went; I feel like we squeezed everything we could from the car and didn’t leave anything on the table – it is definitely a good feeling, and a step in the right direction compared to recent qualifying sessions. We were really close to Q3, actually a mere handful of thousandths away from it, which is good to see, and a confirmation that the new bits are working as expected. The track felt good in both sessions today, better than yesterday, which allowed us to be a bit more in the mix. Looking ahead to tomorrow, I feel we can be in a good place to fight for points; it’s rather difficult to overtake on this track, which should make defending rather okay – hopefully, we’ll also be able to attack and fight our way into the top ten – that has to be the target.”

Zhou Guanyu, 18th, 1:18.037

“We experienced some tricky and quite different conditions in qualifying compared to previous sessions. My final lap in dry conditions was clean, but I struggled with balance and rotation, which caused me to miss out on Q2 by a narrow margin, when I reckon I had the chance to make it out of Q1. Overall, the car felt better and we’re seeing some progress, especially with the development direction the team has taken and the parts that were introduced here on Valtteri’s car. Tomorrow is a new day, and it’ll be crucial to have the tyres in the right window to make up some positions: I’m confident the team will keep pushing and working hard to find the best way to make it happen.”

Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative

"Today has been a positive day for the team, as we received confirmation that the upgrade package we brought to Hungary delivered the expected improvements. We are now approaching the race with renewed perspectives. Valtteri maximised track time and executed our Q2 strategy effectively, finishing P12 and narrowly missing out on Q3. The main difference between us and the top 10, including Lewis Hamilton, was in the high-speed second sector, which remains a weakness for us. However, we reduced the gap and improved the car's overall performance across all types of corners, achieving our goals for this upgrade. Thanks to the hard work done in Hinwil, we have seen positive results. The session was more challenging for Zhou, who missed Q2 by just two-tenths of a second. Despite employing the same strategy, we had to abort his second lap during the first stint in Q1, and he was unable to secure a place in Q2 in the second stint. Nevertheless, we observed a good step forward for him compared to the previous race, both in terms of his car performance and his ability to improve with each stint during the Q1 session. Tomorrow, we expect a tough race, with hotter temperatures being a significant factor. During Friday's race simulations, we identified areas for improvement to avoid overheating and manage tyre thermal degradation. Consequently, tomorrow’s strategy will be crucial. We also opted to save hard tyres, and we'll see if we can make further progress after today's positive qualifying session."

Alpine

Alpine had looked off the pace throughout all three practice sessions, but somehow had both cars sitting in Q2 positions when the red flags came out in Q1. But when the session resumed, they were the only team to opt not to come out. The track dried, everyone improved and they tumbled down the order as a result to occupy the back row of the grid in what can only be described as a strategic mistake.

Esteban Ocon, 19th, 1:18.049

"It was frustrating for our Qualifying session to end early today. Clearly it was a mistake not to go out for a final run where the track conditions and lap-time improved significantly. I was in 10th place before the session restarted after the red flag and we showed decent pace in the mixed conditions, but we misread the evolution of the track after that point. It is easy in hindsight, but we win and lose as a team and we did not get it right today. What is most important is to learn and make better decisions in the future.”

Pierre Gasly, 20th, 1:18.166

“We did not get it right today. With the mixed conditions, Q1 was less about car performance and more about being on track at the right time. We got that completely wrong today, it was a mistake and, as a result, we missed out on an opportunity for a better result in Qualifying. When conditions are like that – wet to dry – usually opportunities come up and it is these chances that we have to take. Simply, we have to do better. Tomorrow will be a challenging afternoon from the back of the grid but we will give it our all and see what we can achieve."

Bruno Famin, Team Principal

“We made a mistake today in Q1 by being the only cars in the garage with the track drying at the end of the session and, as a team, we take that one on the chin. Regardless of our performance level so far this weekend, it’s a bitter one to swallow to exit in this manner. We apologise to the drivers for not giving them the opportunity in the session and we will debrief together and put measures in place to ensure this never happens again. Tomorrow will be challenging. We are well out of position at the back of the grid and we will need things to really go our way if we are to come away with a good result. That said, we are a team of fighters and we will never give up.”

Pirelli

Mario Isola, Motorsport Director

“Once again, here at the Hungaroring, we witnessed a spectacular qualifying, with the first three drivers lapping within 46 thousandths of a second of each other, while there were also several twists and turns. That all points to it being a very closely contested race tomorrow, both right at the front and in the battle for the remaining points. It’s worth noting that, over the course of a year, car performance has increased significantly, given that today’s pole position time is almost one and a half seconds quicker than last year on what is one of the shortest tracks on the calendar.

“In terms of strategy this is a race where the classic two-stop is the clear favourite. On paper, the quickest option is to start on the Medium before then bringing in the Hard. Clearly, the number of available sets of these two harder compounds will determine the teams’ decisions. On that topic, there are three teams – Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari – whose drivers only have one set of new Hard and two of new Medium available, while one, Aston Martin, has one set of new Medium and one of new Hard. All the other teams have at least two sets of Hard and one of Medium.

“Another very important factor to consider will be a return to hotter conditions for tomorrow with the track expected to exceed the 50 °C mark by a considerable margin.”