2026 Hungarian Grand Prix - Qualifying Report

Hungaroring, Saturday, 25 July

Find out what happened during FP3 and Qualifying in Hungary, and get the thoughts of McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Drivers Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and Team Principal Andrea Stella.

The McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team came away from Qualifying at the Hungaroring with a Pole position for Lando Norris and encouragement that the upgrade package run by both cars is working as the team expected.

It was a first Pole position of the season for the team, our 10th in Hungary and 178th in history. Lando took the 11th Pole of the season for a Mercedes-HPP powered car, also his first one with the World Champion’s Number 1 on the car, his second at the Hungaroring and the 17th of his career. At the track where he drove his first F1 laps for the team, he dominated the day, taking P1 in every session. Oscar Piastri made good progress throughout each session but had to settle for P5 after he was impeded on his final run.

Ahead of Qualifying, final practice was a good session for the team, with Lando finishing P1 after 20 laps and Oscar P5 after 22. Yesterday, the team had done a cross-car comparison of the new floor, with Oscar running the previously raced version, and Lando running the update. With the latter delivering the results expected, both drivers had the new package fitted from the start of FP3. 

The first FP3 runs were short, with a Red Flag for a stricken Cadillac causing a stoppage. Once the session resumed, Oscar was able to restart the tyre and go quicker – but Lando, who was P1 after the early laps, found that more difficult. Onto the second set of tyres, it was Lando who went to the top of the timesheet again, albeit with an unusual-looking run plan, that involved a warm-up lap, a double-cool after the first push lap, and then the Fastest Lap of the session. It pointed to a complicated Qualifying session ahead. 

Complicated is exactly what Qualifying proved to be. Q1 featured several dilemmas: warm-up lap or not, Medium or Soft? In the end, the team elected to go with a warm-up lap and a Soft tyre. Both cars did a single run, which was good enough to have Lando P1, and Oscar P8. Q2 left the drivers with decisions to make. Both went out for a first run on the used Soft from Q1. After everyone completed their laps, Lando was P4 and Oscar P8. While Oscar was obliged to fit a new tyre and run again, Lando had the choice of safety first or use the new tyre to learn even more ahead of Q3. He elected to go again. He finished P1, Oscar P5. 

There was more tension in Q3. The cars went at the head of the field to get in clean banker laps. Oscar was P5 after the first runs, while Lando was P2, a tenth behind Lewis Hamilton. The cars left it late in the session to head out for their final attempts, running right at the back of the field. That was unfortunate for Oscar who, running last, was impeded by Hamilton, who had just finished his lap. Lando, meanwhile, was able to deliver a lap unhindered. The strength of the MCL40 all weekend has been in the middle sector, and once again, that was where he held the advantage, losing a tenth in Sectors 1 and 3, but gaining it all back through the combination corners in the middle. It was enough to get him onto Pole by twelve-thousandths of a second. 

Ultimately, the team came away from Qualifying with several considerations to reflect on. On Lando’s side of the garage, the team were able to maximise performance, but the result comes as a small surprise, given our closest competitors left some lap time on track. On Oscar's side, there is a feeling more was possible, had his lap not been curtailed before it truly got underway. After Qualifying, the Stewards handed Hamilton a three-place grid penalty as well as a three-place grid penalty to Antonelli, promoting Oscar to P3. While this goes some way to improving the result, as a team we would have all liked to have seen what Oscar could have done with the benefit of an unimpeded lap.

The team face an uphill battle to hold onto this hard-fought P1 but are spurred on by the positive result secured today, secured thanks to the work back in the factory and here at track to introduce upgrades.

In the McLaren Driver Development Programme, Matteo De Palo finished the FIA Formula 3 Sprint at the Hungaroring in P27. At Thruxton in British F4, Dries Van Langendonck qualified P2 for Race 1, finishing P15, and will line up P8 for Race 2. In the Italian F4 round at Mugello, Christian Costoya finished Race 1 in P9 from P4 and P6 in Race 2 from P6.

“It's a fantastic feeling to be back on Pole - it’s been a while, but I've felt confident all weekend. The car was performing very well, and the team has done a brilliant job with the new upgrades, we certainly wouldn't be here without them. While my final laps in Q3 weren't perfect, we had the pace when it mattered, and securing Pole is a huge boost for everyone. This result is a testament to the hard work at the factory and the progress we're making.

“Looking to the race, we're in the best position we've been in all season, but I'm expecting a very tough fight tomorrow. The Ferraris have shown incredible pace, and tyre degradation will be a major factor. Starting from the front is obviously an advantage here, but we need a good start and excellent race management. Beating them tomorrow will definitely not be easy. We need a few more results like this to feel a bit more confident about our performance, but today is certainly a good start.”

“We had more in us and we had good performance in the car but were impeded by Hamilton at Turn 1, so I didn’t get to do my final flying lap. I felt like we had made good progress throughout FP3 and into each Qualifying session, especially with the new package, so it was a shame to not be able to show our full potential. It's encouraging to see Lando on Pole, so congratulations to him, and to see that we are making progress with performance, so we can take positives from that. The team have done a great job with the latest package, so we will keep pushing on that front to keeping find more and more lap time.

“Looking ahead to tomorrow, we will try and get a good start and see what we can do. Overtaking here is tricky, but we will give it everything and aim for the podium.”

Andrea Stella

Team Principal

“Securing Pole position was a fantastic and somewhat surprising result for the whole team. The new upgrades we brought to the track performed exactly as we had anticipated, and this outcome is a testament to the months of relentless effort from everyone back at the factory in developing and delivering these parts. While we have a lot of progress to still make, today confirms that our development direction seems the right one, and I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved. My thanks go to the team, both at the factory and trackside, for their hard work and commitment.

“On Lando’s side, the team were able to maximise everything which enabled him to deliver a great final lap. On Oscar’s side, he made good progress throughout the whole of Friday after he had missed FP1 to give Leo the chance to run his second free practice of the year. Oscar ran the new upgrade package for the first time in FP3, however he was not able to show his full potential in Qualifying today as his final lap was impeded.

“While we will certainly aim for victory starting from the front, we remain realistic about the challenge ahead. Our competitors, especially Ferrari, have shown very strong pace all weekend, and we believe they are still the favourites for the race. We know we have more work to do to be in this position consistently, but the good news is that we are in the fight. We hope to capitalise on this opportunity and deliver a strong performance for both drivers.”