Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc snatched a surprise pole position for 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix.
McLaren dominated FP3 and the first two segments of Qualifying and had looked on course for another front row lockout in Q3, until Leclerc saved his best lap until the very end to snatch his first pole position of the season.
FP3
A quiet start to the session saw McLaren and Aston Martin drivers do installation laps before Alpine’s Franco Colapinto set 1m 18.006 as the benchmark time in the tenth minute.
His time was beaten five minutes later by Lance Stroll who proceeded to exchange fastest laps with Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda, before Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and George Russell exchanged the fastest lap time.
Piastri however emerged quickest once everyone set their first lap times after the Australia posted 1m 16.240 in the 24th minute, but Verstappen went 0.038 seconds quicker on his second flier before Leclerc found more time with 1m 16.137 to top the opening half-hour.
Piastri however regained the quickest lap with 1m 15.871 in the 31st minute, before he eventually topped the timesheet with 1m 14.916, albeit only 0.032s clear of his teammate, Norris.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1m 14.916 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.032 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.399 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.768 |
| 5 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.829 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.878 |
| 7 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.912 |
| 8 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.924 |
| 9 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | + 1.062 |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | + 1.109 |
| 11 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 1.211 |
| 12 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 1.246 |
| 13 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 1.331 |
| 14 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 1.455 |
| 15 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 1.526 |
| 16 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 1.614 |
| 17 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 1.615 |
| 18 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.654 |
| 19 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | + 1.962 |
| 20 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | + 2.040 |
Qualifying
Q1
In a quiet start to the session, Sainz was first on track and set 1m 18.282 as the initial benchmark but Albon went 0.841s faster just moments later.
Everyone else briefly held back in their garages but once the rest of the grid ventured out, Piastri set the pace with 1m 15.554 as the track conditions began to cool, whilst Tsunoda, Bearman, Gasly, Ocon and Albon occupied the drop zone once everyone set a lap time.
Sainz however had completed his second flier just moments before Bortoleto was the last driver to even set their first time, but the Spaniard was soon dropped into the danger zone by his teammate – Albon who moved from 20th to 15th with seven minutes left of the segment.
Aston Martin opted to send Stroll and Alonso out early for their second runs which paid off as the Canadian climbed to third, just moments before Alonso went quickest with 1m 15.281.
As the checkered flag fell, Tsunoda became the biggest casualty as he only qualified 16th ahead of Gasly, Ocon, Hulkenberg and Albon.
Piastri meanwhile posted 1m 15.211 to top Q1 from Alonso by 0.070s.
Q2
Following a three-minute delay caused by a wide moment for Piastri in Q1 which necessitated a sweep of the track to remove gravel, Antonelli was first on track and set 1m 16.386 as the initial benchmark time as rain arrived at turn six.
Once everyone set their first lap times, Norris sat top with 1m 14.890 from Piastri by 0.051s whilst the elimination zone comprised of; Hamilton, Sainz, Bortoleto, Antonelli and Colapinto – whose lap time had been deleted due to a breach of track limits at turn nine.
Once the checkered flag fell, Antonelli was initially eliminated in 11th position ahead of Bearman, Hamilton, Sainz and Colapinto, but the Italian’s lap time was disallowed and dropped him to 15th behind the quartet who were each promoted a position.
Q3
Stroll was the first driver to hit the track in Q3 and set 1m 16.660 as the benchmark time but his time was deleted due to a breach of track limit at turn nine.
Piastri however went quickest with 1m 15.398 to head Norris by 0.096s whilst Russell put his Mercedes a provisional third ahead of; Alonso, Verstappen, Leclerc, Lawson, Bortoleto and Stroll, whilst Hadjar sat out the first run of Q3.
Aston Martin sent Stroll and Alonso out early for their final runs in a shrewd move as Stroll went third but got bumped to fourth by Alonso, as the Spaniard put his car second provisionally and just 0.083s shy of Piastri’s lap time.
At the checkered flag, Leclerc snatched pole with a surprise 1m 15.372 ahead of Piastri, Norris and Russell as the top four were split by 0.053s.
Alonso qualified fifth ahead of Stroll as Aston Martin locked out the third row ahead of Bortoleto who outqualified Verstappen, Lawson and Hadjar.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1m 15.372 |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.026 |
| 3 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.041 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.053 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.109 |
| 6 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.126 |
| 7 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | + 0.353 |
| 8 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.356 |
| 9 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 0.449 |
| 10 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | + 0.543 |
| 11 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 1m 15.694 |
| 12 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.008 |
| 13 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 0.087 |
| 14 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 0.465 |
| 15 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.692 |
| 16 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | 1m 15.899 |
| 17 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.067 |
| 18 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 0.124 |
| 19 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | + 0.182 |
| 20 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.324 |
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