20/07/2024
NEWS STORY
It's an all-McLaren front row for the Hungarian Grand Prix with Lando Norris (1'15"227) on pole ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri by just 22 thousandths (1'15"249).
This was the Englishman's third pole position following on from the one in Sochi in 2021 and in Barcelona this year. The last time McLaren locked out the front row was in the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix, with two world champions, Lewis Hamilton on pole and Jenson Button alongside him. It is the team's 158th pole position, its tenth at the Hungaroring, the last one dating back to 2012, courtesy of Hamilton.
On the second row of the grid, we find Max Verstappen in the Red Bull, third in 1'15"273, just 46 thousandths of a second slower than Norris, and Carlos Sainz fourth for Ferrari, 469-thousandths down.
The weather was very different compared to yesterday. Right from the third free practice session, the temperatures were much lower, especially the track, which was over 20 °C cooler than in FP1. Furthermore, rain put in an appearance just before qualifying and then reappeared occasionally, but the track never got wet enough to require the use of intermediate tyres.
In FP3, almost all the teams focused on preparing for qualifying, running the Soft compound. There were two exceptions: Red Bull Racing who used the Hard, including over a long run and Aston Martin who also used a set of Mediums.
Qualifying did not run particularly smoothly, partly because of the changing weather and partly because of two red flag periods, the first when Sergio Perez went off in Q1 and the second when Yuki Tsunoda crashed in Q3. The Soft was the only compound used and, as expected, peak performance was delivered on the first timed lap. The drop in temperature made it easier for the drivers to manage the C5 on a flying lap, improving the balance of the car across the two axles and reducing overheating of the rear tyres, which was particularly significant yesterday in the final sector.
Mario Isola: "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."
Check out our Saturday gallery from the Hungaroring here.