Frustrated Lewis Hamilton is handed a three-place grid penalty in another blow to Ferrari star after he had pole position snatched away by British rival Lando Norris

There was a huge cheer and then Lewis Hamilton was left shaking his head. The world championship hopes were shaken in Hungary, which started to fall in the rankings a few hours after being in pole position for a moment.

The first strike was when Lando Norris took over the front row with a late and masterful ambush. The second punch was delivered in the stewards’ room, where Hamilton was inevitably penalized for inadvertently impeding McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

Hamilton dropped from second on the grid to fifth. Fortunately, Championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who was fourth and later moved up to third, will now start the race from seventh place following his own suspension. Hamilton is 45 points behind the Italians after 10 rounds.

Poor Lewis is disappointed that the Ferrari team didn’t warn him that Piastri was coming quickly behind him, and now he has to do whatever it takes to become the favorite for victory, even if it’s probably from second on the grid.

Before his setback, Hamilton appeared to think he was in first place, judging by how he entered the parking lot next to the No. 1 track.

Norris was still on the track trying to put together his smooth attacks at the top; Hamilton gave him a chance after failing to improve on his first run, which temporarily gave him command.

Reigning champion Lando Norris roared back to claim his first pole position of the year by 0.012 seconds

Almost no riders managed to create extra speed in the final stages; Bar Norris beat Hamilton by 0.012 seconds to secure his first pole position in his championship defence. Sign number 1 was moved by the authorities in front of the world champion McLaren. Number 2 was placed next to the red car.

Hamilton then called the referees at 18:00 local time; This appointment was even more nerve-wracking because his car was the fastest, a point he normally believed he could underline today.

‘We did a great job all weekend,’ he said, though he was slow to cheer immediately afterwards, distracted by the prospect of an upcoming penalty. I felt solid throughout qualifying and for some reason we came out first, which I don’t think was the right decision.

‘And for some reason the grip wasn’t there then.

‘Of course we are competitive but I think tomorrow will be a difficult day. ‘We’ll fine-tune everything tonight to give ourselves the best chance.’

One positive to note was that the Silver Arrows appeared to be a shadow of their former dominant self.

In fact, this campaign was the first time that both cars failed to meet qualifying pace. Instead, Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc was third fastest, later moving up to second.

George Russell in the second Mercedes was only seventh fastest and his championship aspirations were looking increasingly bleak. Fifty points off the top, he was forced to abandon his car on the way to the pits, a water leak providing the final dose of bad luck. He will be fitted with a new engine for the race and good luck will be wished to the last one.