2024 Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying report and highlights: Norris ...

Q3 – Pole for Norris as red flags spark busy end to session

Verstappen was the first on track as the top-10 shootout began, with the Red Bull putting an early lap in on new soft tyres. “Make that lack of a tow count, Max,” Verstappen was told by engineer GP.

With Alonso warned that there was a possibility of rain affecting the second runs, the pressure was on to put in a strong effort on the first try. While it initially looked like Verstappen had sealed provisional pole position, the Dutchman was displaced by Norris, with the McLaren going fastest by three tenths of a second on a lap of 1m 15.227s.

Piastri had slotted into third, ahead of Leclerc in fourth and Hamilton in fifth place. And with those first laps complete, the rain had started to lightly fall again at the Hungaroring. Could the weather prevent any dramatic improvements?

Several drivers were keen to avoid this possibility, with the likes of Verstappen and Piastri already getting back on track with a few minutes still on the clock. While Piastri improved on a time just 0.022s away from his team mate – and Verstappen completed a lap that put him in third – the red flags were thrown after Tsunoda had a hefty crash in the RB out of Turn 5.

The Japanese driver was thankfully able to walk away from the incident. Meanwhile, several drivers – barring Verstappen and Alonso – had already lined up in the pit lane to await the restart of the session, which would begin again with just 2:13 remaining. Would everybody make it to the line in time to put a lap in?

Well, all apart from Sainz did, resulting in the Ferrari driver pitting while everyone else attempted to improve. Ricciardo was the only driver to better his time, meaning that Norris remained in pole position just ahead of team mate Piastri.

Verstappen held onto P3, with the Dutchman set to share the second row with Sainz in P4, while future Ferrari team mates Leclerc and Hamilton line up in P5 and P6. Alonso and Stroll followed in P7 and P8 on a decent day for Aston Martin, while Ricciardo took P9 ahead of Tsunoda – who was unable to rejoin – in P10.