No Mercedes for the first time: Norris breaks pole dominance

In a thrilling finish, Lando Norris snatched the 105th pole position of his Formula 1 career from record champion Lewis Hamilton, breaking Mercedes' overwhelming dominance this season.

July 25, 2026

From: dpa/det

The McLaren driver stormed to his first pole position as world champion in qualifying for Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix (15.00 p.m.) with a blistering final lap, celebrating his 17th career pole position. However, Hamilton and championship leader Kimi Antonelli both experienced an unpleasant aftermath at the hands of the race stewards.

In the eleventh race of the season, and the last before the summer break, a Mercedes driver did not finish on the top step of the podium for the first time. Championship leader Antonelli finished only fourth in a hectic final phase, temporarily moving up one place after a penalty against Hamilton, before receiving a three-place penalty himself. Antonelli ultimately finished seventh.

Kimi Antonelli will have to start further back. © APA/afp / FERENC ISZA

The 19-year-old Italian had also been investigated by the race stewards for allegedly speeding during a yellow flag period following a spin by Max Verstappen shortly before the end. "Pole was out of reach for me," Antonelli admitted. The stewards later found it proven that the championship leader had not slowed down sufficiently.

Mercedes not "good enough"

His Mercedes teammate George Russell, whose car was slowed down late by a water leak, was subsequently relegated to sixth place. "We're simply not good enough. Kimi was a bit unlucky," said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who was particularly annoyed about Russell's latest reliability issue. "We knew Budapest would be difficult. It's always been a McLaren and Ferrari track."

Lewis Hamilton received a penalty. © APA/afp / ATTILA KISBENEDEK

Norris, in turn, edged out Hamilton by a mere 0,012 seconds, relegating him to second place and celebrating his first pole position since Las Vegas last autumn. Hamilton's mood darkened later, however, as the stewards investigated an incident involving the Englishman and McLaren's Oscar Piastri at the end of qualifying.

They then ruled that Hamilton had caused "unnecessary obstruction," resulting in a three-place grid penalty, dropping him to fifth. Behind pole-sitter Norris, Hamilton's Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc will now start from second place, ahead of Piastri.