F1 News: Leclerc wins shock pole in Ferrari for Hungarian GP

The temperature dropped at the Hungaroring and Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari (pictured) came alive, and he won the Hungarian GP pole with a lap of 1m15.372s, beating the two superior McLarens.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Leclerc seemed genuinely shocked there with his first pole of the season – and no wonder. He was four tenths of a second off in FP3, and barely scraped out of Q1 and Q2, while his teammate bit he dust in Q2.

“The whole Qualifying was extremely difficult. It was difficult to get to Q2 and difficult to get to Q3. Then the conditions changed, I knew I had to do a clean lap to target third, and I can’t believe it,” said Leclerc.

“Honestly, I have no words. It is probably one of the best pole positions I have had, as it is so unexpected.”

Oscar Piastri in the superior #81 McLaren ended up 0.026s behind Leclerc.

“Charles did a good lap, probably risked a bit more,” said Piastri. “The wind changed and seemed to punish us. But nothing to complain of, we both did good laps and it wasn’t enough.”

Lando Norris in the other superior #4 McLaren also choked and ended up 0.041s behind Leclerc.

“Charles did a good lap, probably risked a bit more,” said Norris. “The wind changed and seemed to punish us. But nothing to complain of, we both did good laps and it wasn’t enough.

“I want to go forwards and I want to win. I think it will be an exciting race, I expect us to have a bit more pace than Charles so I am looking forward to it.”

George Russell’s Mercedes also came alive in the cooler conditions to go 4th, 0.053s behind Leclerc.

Fernando Alonso rounded out the top-5 for Aston Martin, just 0.109s behind the Ferrari – a sensational result.

Lance Stroll was right behind his Aston Martin teammate in 6th, a great result for both green cars.

Gabriel Bortoleto was a sensational 7th for Sauber and ahead of Max Verstappen in the RB21 dog in 8th.

The Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar rounded out the top-10.

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton has a record number of wins and poles here at the Hungaroring when his Mercedes had a 50-hp advantage, but now he is getting his clock cleaned by his more talented Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.

Hamilton never made it out of Q2 despite it being his most successful track, and will start down in 12th while Leclerc put the #16 Ferrari on pole!

So, looking back to last year when Verstappen and Piastri pincered Norris who was on pole down to Turn 1. Something similar could well happen tomorrow, but neither McLaren man will want to risk a collision, a potential DNF and gifting points to their Championship rival.

2025 Hungarian GP Qualifying Results