Lando Norris led the pack in F1 Qualifying at the 2024 Hungarian GP with a Pole-worthy lap time of 1:15.227. He was followed by Oscar Piastri in P2 and Max Verstappen in P3.
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The results of the F1 Qualifying session for the 2024 Hungarian GP are in and it is Lando Norris who will start from Pole Position with teammate Oscar Piastri in P2 and Max Verstappen in P3.
In FP3, the McLaren duo also locked out the front row.
F1 Qualifying 2024 Hungarian GP
Around ten minutes before Qualifying, race control declared a wet track with low grip conditions.
Q1
Race control updated the track conditions to Normal Grip. Cars soon began to leave the pit lane on slicks.
Tsunoda went P1 in the early runnings with teammate Ricciardo P2. Sargeant and Albon then soon then took over, setting the fastest times.
Hamilton set the time to beat with a 1:17.087, which was 0.157 seconds faster than Sainz. Verstappen followed in P3.
However, as the track continued to get quicker, problems arose for Red Bull. Pérez hit the wall after losing control of his car in the middle sector, and while he was okay, he was out of Qualifying once again.
As Red Bull contemplate their line-up for next year, this will not bode well for the Mexican driver who has underperformed recently.
The rain appeared to be worsening, which indicated that once Q1 began again, drivers would not be able to improve. This was later confirmed when Zhou was 2.5s down in sector 1.
With mere minutes to go it seemed that the track was coming back to the drivers. While Ricciardo went fastest, Russell appeared to be in danger from elimination.
Pérez, Russell, Zhou, Ocon, and Gasly were the bottom five.
Q2
Piastri looked strong, 0.015s off of Verstappen on used tyres. However, Hamilton looked to be in danger much like his teammate who was the shock elimination in Q1.
Continuing the upwards trend for McLaren, Norris went top while Piastri and Verstappen remained strong behind him.
Hülkenberg, Bottas, Albon, Saregeant, and Magnussen were eliminated and thus out of Q3.
While this was not the result neither Haas nor Williams would have wanted, both teams look ready to fight for points tomorrow.
Q3
Q3 was delayed by 2 minutes but this did not stop Verstappen. The Dutchman was three tenths faster than Piastri in P2.
In a delightful session, there was everything to play for. Piastri first went fastest in Sector 1, then Sainz bettered this. Verstappen soon followed.
Tsunoda hit the wall and a red flag was raised. His Q3 was over and his car looked significantly damaged.
With this, it was a mad rush for drivers to get their final laps in to set the grid for tomorrow’s Grand Prix. Cars queued at the pit lane ready to begin. However, Verstappen and Alonso appeared to be out of their cars.
It began to rain once again, which meant that drivers were not going to improve their lap times. Norris was over four tenths down in sector 1 and chose to pit rather than continue.
However, the British driver had done enough. With a lap time of 1:15.227, he will begin the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix from Pole Position. It is his third career Pole.
His teammate Oscar Piastri will begin P2 thanks to a lap time of 1:15.249 while Max Verstappen will start P3.
The papaya 1-2 🧡🤝#F1 #HungarianGP @McLarenF1 pic.twitter.com/EtEMBKYTgd
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 20, 2024
Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton round up the top five.
Image Credit: McLaren F1 Team
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