Charles Leclerc was speechless after winning a ferocious final lap in the third quarter after pinching Oscar Piastri and Rand Norris’ pole positions for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Leclerc finished third in all three practice sessions at Hungarrolling, behind the dominant McLaren driver, kicking out the tentative Paul Getter Piastri after 1.2 seconds after the first lap in the shootout. However, with rapid-changing conditions and ambient temperature drops, the Ferrari car was lively, and when neither McLaren could improve for the first time, the doors were open to the top spot in the rocket’s native Monaco.
Leclerc couldn’t set the purple time in any of the three sectors, but found a stunning 1.258 on the final lap to set the benchmark on the 1M15.372S. He was the only driver in the third quarter, improving the time in the second quarter and was enough to overcome Piastri’s fastest lap in a small but decisive 0.026 seconds.
It shocked Leclerc and after being told he had put the qualifiers on top, he strolled crazy on the team’s radio.
“Today, I don’t understand anything in Formula 1,” he said. “To be honest, the whole qualifying was very difficult, and when I say it is very difficult, it’s not exaggerated.
“In Q3, the conditions changed a bit, everything became very difficult and I knew I had to do some pretty rap to target my third target.
“I have no words. It’s probably one of the best pole positions I’ve ever had.
Leclerc had to manipulate his Ferrari, but it still went beyond his expectations. Joe Portlock/Getty Images
With its difficult to pass around narrow hanger rings, Leclerc has a great chance to turn Ferrari’s first pole into his first victory.
“Start and turn 1 are important,” he said. “I don’t know what will happen.
“One thing to be sure is we’ll do absolutely everything to keep that first place. By doing that, it should make our lives easier for the rest of the race.”
Piastri was surprised that McLaren’s benefits had suddenly subsided, so the Australians denounced the wind for the team’s instantaneous loss of performance.
“It’s always a very pathetic responsibility for Wind things, but Wind basically went 180 from Q3 from Q3,” he said. “That meant that a lot of the corners felt completely different.
“My first lap in Q3 felt pretty bad because I wasn’t used to it. I thought the second lap was much better, but it was even slower. It was probably not the best run, but I was a bit surprised I couldn’t go any faster.
Norris sets the fastest time for qualifying, but was set in the second quarter. Failing to match that effort in the third quarter, he qualified third and 0.041 seconds from Paul.
“Q2, I think it showed us how fast we can go and how good we can, but as soon as the wind changed everything disappeared,” he said. “Charles did a good job on his final lap, but perhaps he was a little more at risk in these conditions.”
George Russell starts out in Mercedes fourth after wrapping Leclair’s only 0.053 and sharing the second line with Norris.
Aston Martin produced a stunning turnaround from its grid-back performance in Belgium, putting both cars in the Q3. Fernando Alonso led the Lance walks fifth and sixth respectively, both of which matched closely over 0.1 seconds from the pace.
Gabriel Boltreto made the third third quarter appearance of the final four Grands Prixes as Sauber qualified ahead of Max Verstappen. The world champions didn’t look like real Paul contenders, despite going ahead of Leclair after the first lap of the shootout.
Racing Bulls teammates Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar completed the top 10.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli was knocked out to No. 11 in the late second quarter on a rapidly improving track condition. Antoneri then removed the fastest lap due to track restrictions and was demoted to 15th place for leaving the last in the second quarter.
Oliver Bareman was promoted to the 11th before Lewis Hamilton, his best rap was ruined by a series of oversteered snaps in the final sector, leaving him in the 0.247s on Leclerc in that segment.
Carlos Sain will be in 13th place on the 14th, ahead of Franco Colapinto. It is the first time Colapinto has surpassed Gasly since the Canadian Grand Prix, and has moved ahead two times overall. This year marks the third time Guthrie has qualified behind his teammates, with the third being Jack Doohan’s in Miami.
Yuki Tsunoda collided with the first quarter at the final moments, missing out on progress by just 0.024S as the track increased dramatically in the final minutes of the segment, benefiting those who completed the laps later than him.
This is the third time a Japanese driver has been knocked out in bottom 5 since the last five Grands Prix. He will be 16th in the Grand Prix.
Guthrie was 17th ahead of Esteban Ocon, who resigned. Esteban Ocon reported a screw on the lower right tire as he left the pit lane for the final lap.
Nico Furkenberg was in 19th place, appearing to be competitive throughout Sauber practice, but the biggest shock in the segment was Alex Albon, who was removed in the first quarter of the season for the first time.
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