Roundup of FP3 and Qualifying as Lewis Hamilton claimed a shock pole position for 2023 Hungarian GP.
After enduring a difficult Friday Practice, Hamilton had topped FP3 but Max Verstappen looked to had hit back with a dominant Qualifying session with tyre rule tweaks, yet the Brit saved his best for his last-gasp Q3 flier to snatch pole by just 0.003 seconds.
McLaren and Alfa Romeo meanwhile continued their strong form on a day which saw plenty of surprises with two surprise exits across Q1 and Q2.
Now, here is a full roundup of FP3 and Qualifying for 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix.
FP3
Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou were first out on track but it was Verstappen who quickly set the pace with 1m 18.478 on medium tyres in the sixth minute, ahead of teammate – Sergio Perez by 0.080s as everyone continued to focus on individual programmes ahead of the Qualifying format shake-up.
McLaren continued their pace from Friday Practice as Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris went third and fourth fastest on their opening laps on the soft tyre, but Bottas went second fastest in the 21st minute and 0.011s shy of Verstappen as Zhou slotted into third.
Up top, Verstappen remained unbeaten until Alonso posted 1m 18.350 in the 37th minute on the soft tyre, only for Norris to displace the Spaniard in the 44th minute with 1m 18.082 on medium tyres.
Mercedes meanwhile busily ran their own programme and finally stuck the soft tyre on in the 48th minute as Hamilton went quickest with 1m 17.811, which Verstappen failed to match moments later as the two-time champion fell 0.250s shy but 0.013s faster than Perez.
As the checkered flag fell, nobody managed to beat Hamilton’s lap time as Verstappen and Perez rounded out the top three although Norris, Logan Sargeant, Daniel Ricciardo, Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda set their fastest laps on the medium tyre.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m 17.811 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.250 |
| 3 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.256 |
| 4 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 0.266 |
| 5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.271 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.308 |
| 7 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.379 |
| 8 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.423 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.539 |
| 10 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 0.678 |
| 11 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.725 |
| 12 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 0.733 |
| 13 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.781 |
| 14 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.787 |
| 15 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 0.838 |
| 16 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.965 |
| 17 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 1.003 |
| 18 | Daniel Ricciardo | AlphaTauri | + 1.017 |
| 19 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 1.168 |
| 20 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 1.345 |
Qualifying
Q1
Perez was first out for Qualifying with everyone only permitted to run the hard tyres and set a benchmark time of 1m 19.292 which was quickly bettered by various drivers, as Bottas posted 1m 18.818 to go fastest in the opening stint.
Sainz meanwhile found himself sat in the bottom five at the halfway mark of the session in 16th position, alongside; Tsunoda, Ricciardo, Albon and Sargeant.
Verstappen went fastest with 1m 18.658 in the tenth minute but times continued to ramp up as the track evolved across the session, with traffic in the closing moments ultimately costing last year’s pole-sitter, Russell who qualified 18th behind Albon and Tsunoda but ahead of Magnussen and Sargeant
Q2
Like in Q1, Perez was first out on track but this time on the medium tyre which was the only tyre permitted in Q2 as part of the new Qualifying tyre format, whilst many held back for the circuit to rubber in further as Perez proceeded to set the benchmark time of 1m 17.675 in the fourth minute.
Verstappen quickly demolished that lap time with 1m 17.296 but his lap time was deleted after he exceeded track limits at Turn 5, which landed him rock bottom in the bottom five at the halfway mark in the ninth minute behind; Bottas, Ricciardo, Gasly and Stroll.
Verstappen’s track limits violation meanwhile left Norris sat top with 1m 17.328 from his teammate, Piastri, having initially fallen 0.032s shy of Verstappen’s deleted effort.
Red Bull opted to send Verstappen out early for his final flier which duly lifted him to second with 1m 17.547, just 0.024s clear of Piastri.
As the checkered flag fell, nobody could beat Norris’ lap time whilst there was another upset as last year’s second-placed starter, Sainz was eliminated in 11th position by just 0.002s as Alonso scraped through to Q3.
Ocon, Ricciardo, Stroll and Gasly meanwhile were the other Q2 retirements as they took 12-15th positions respectively.
Q3
Perez again was first out on track with soft tyres now permitted in Q3 and the Mexican proceeded to set the benchmark time of 1m 17.142 in the fourth minute.
Norris however posted 1m 16.904 to go fastest from Alonso until Verstappen delivered 1m 16.612 to put himself onto provisional pole, ahead of Hamilton, Norris, Alonso and Perez.
Leclerc meanwhile found himself sixth quickest after the opening runs but just 0.007s ahead of Bottas with Hulkenberg, Piastri and Zhou rounding out the top ten order ahead of final runs.
Once the checkered flag waved, Verstappen failed to improve but Hamilton managed to find 0.003s to claim his first pole in 33 races since 2021 Saudi Arabian GP and his 104th overall pole in F1, with McLaren locking out the second row as Norris qualified third ahead of Piastri.
Zhou sprung a huge shock as he qualified fifth ahead of Leclerc, Bottas, Alonso, Perez and Hulkenberg.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m 16.609 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.003 |
| 3 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.085 |
| 4 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.296 |
| 5 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 0.362 |
| 6 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.383 |
| 7 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 0.425 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.426 |
| 9 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.436 |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 0.577 |
| 11 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1m 17.703 |
| 12 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.138 |
| 13 | Daniel Ricciardo | AlphaTauri | + 0.299 |
| 14 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.441 |
| 15 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.514 |
| 16 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1m 18.917 |
| 17 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 0.002 |
| 18 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.110 |
| 19 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 0.289 |
| 20 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 0.331 |
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