Hungarian Grand Prix: Lando Norris beats Lewis Hamilton to pole with Kimi Antonelli fourth

Norris said: “I’m delighted to be back on top, especially at a track where you absolutely want to be on pole.

“I was confident about the whole day. My laps in the third quarter were not the best, even the last lap, it was a very pleasant surprise that I was on top.”

Hamilton was a second slower on his second run than his first, was initially unhappy about being sent out and also faced an investigation for impeding McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in Turn One after completing his final lap.

“I had a clean lap and when I started my lap, already in Turn One, I had a moment of movement and I was already 0.15 seconds behind,” Hamilton said. he said. “It just flowed from there.

“So the last lap was the worst lap and all the other laps were really good. Today it was clear that the car needed to be on pole and I couldn’t do it. So it’s hard to accept that.”

Regarding the disruptive scenario, Hamilton said he was not warned by the team about Piastri’s approach: “I was told he was behind me on top, so I had no idea he was coming. I thought everyone was behind on the lap.”

“Everyone got out behind me. I was the first one out, so I thought everyone had completed their lap. I think when I came out of the pit lane the car behind me was Charles, as far as I know. So yeah, it’s crazy, because it was clean and obviously it wasn’t intentional.”

Antonelli is another driver who was cited by the stewards for an alleged yellow flag violation.

Verstappen, who complained on the radio about unpredictable handling after Red Bull’s return, managed to finish sixth ahead of Russell and his second Red Bull, Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad and Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg.