2024 Hungarian Grand Prix: Norris On Pole After Wet-to-Dry Dramatic Session

Lando Norris took pole position for the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix after a dramatic qualifying that saw wet-to-dry conditions, smashes into the barriers and a few shocks along the way. 

Oscar Piastri will start alongside his teammate, giving McLaren F1 Team their third front row lockout in Hungary, just ahead of Max Verstappen, who was less than half a tenth behind Norris at the end of Q3.

Here’s a recap of the session:

Q1: Ricciardo tops dramatic session as Pérez once again crashes out

After three dry practice sessions on Friday and Saturday, the drivers went into qualifying with rain dampening the circuit. The intermediate tyres weren’t needed when the green light showed for the start of Q1, with the conditions easing off. 

The first runs saw Lewis Hamilton go top of the times, hoping to secure his 10th Hungarian Grand Prix pole position. Yellow flags did come out due to a crash by Logan Sargeant although the American managed to get his car out of the wall. He had a good Q1 for Williams Racing with his first run good enough for fifth.

Charles Leclerc and George Russell were down near the bottom of the times, alongside with Daniel Ricciardo and both MoneyGram Haas F1 Team cars but the times would meaning nothing at the end of Q1 anyway. With seven minutes to go, the conditions were worsening and it was looking likely that things would remain how they were, however the under-pressure Sergio Pérez once again crashed in qualifying, losing the rear after going through the chicane, touching the kerb and spinning off into the barrier.

The rain was getting heavier before the red flag, but once the RB20 of Pérez was removed from the circuit, conditions were much better. Russell was one of the first out and lifted his W15 into tenth after previously being fourteenth, but that wasn’t going to be enough for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team driver with the track constantly getting better towards the end of the session. Russell couldn’t go again either due to the team not fuelling the car for multiple runs.

Drivers below the Brit were improving, Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen all improved, pushing Russell and Pérez into the bottom five but it was Daniel Ricciardo who stole the show in the first part of qualifying. The Australian was in the bottom five when the track went green again after the red flag, but ended Q1 top of the timesheets, which will no doubt have delighted Visa Cash App RB.

Pérez and Russell will start sixteenth and seventeenth respectively, while Zhou Guanyu was once again out qualified by his teammate and will start eighteenth. BWT Alpine F1 Team didn’t send their drivers out in the final part of Q1 and that ultimately cost the French team – Esteban Ocon will start nineteenth with Pierre Gasly rounding things out in twentieth. 

Photo: Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool

Q2 – Battle between Verstappen and the McLaren’s looming ahead of Q3

Q2 was a much quieter session compared to Q1 with things settling down on track. Carlos Sainz Jr. was the first driver to set a time on a used set of tyres before Verstappen went top of the times, with Piastri just behind. 

Going into the business end of Q2, Bottas, Sargeant, Alex Albon, Nico Hülkenberg and Ricciardo were at risk of elimination with everyone queuing in the pitlane to get out on track. 

With everyone improving as the track evolved, Hamilton almost got knocked out. The seven time world champion was at the front of the queue, meaning he didn’t get the best of the conditions but luckily, he managed to stay tenth. 

Ricciardo was a standout performer in Q2. The eight time race winner did just a single run in the session, right at the end, and managed to do enough to get himself into Q3, alongside his teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

Hülkenberg just missed out on Q3, while Bottas, Albon, Sargeant and Magnussen, who won’t be driving for Haas next season, were all knocked out.

Q3 – Norris on pole!

With rain looming, drivers faced the pressure of maximising their first runs. Verstappen initially secured provisional pole, but Norris swooped in with a blistering lap, claiming the top spot by three-tenths of a second. Piastri slotted into third, followed by Leclerc and Hamilton. As the first attempts concluded, rain began to sprinkle over the Hungaroring just as it did in the first part of the session.

Determined to avoid losing out in the conditions, Verstappen and Piastri were among the first back on track after the first runs. While Piastri edged closer to his teammate’s time to go onto the front row, and Verstappen secured P3, the session was red-flagged after Tsunoda’s dramatic crash in Turn 5. With limited time remaining, all the drivers, except Verstappen and Alonso, opted to pit while awaiting the restart.

The final laps were a mad dash. Everyone except Sainz managed to cross the line for a final attempt, but only Ricciardo improved his time. Ultimately, Norris held onto pole, followed by his teammate Piastri. Verstappen settled for third, sharing the second row with Sainz. The future Ferrari teammates, Leclerc and Hamilton, will line up in fifth and sixth, respectively, for tomorrow’s grand prix. A decent day for Aston Martin saw Alonso and Stroll in seventh and eight, while Ricciardo claimed P9 ahead of the Tsunoda, who made a costly error when pushing right at the end of an intense session.