Norris starts from pole position in the Hungarian GP, Antonelli and Hamilton penalized
Defending champion Lando Norris will start first at the Hungaroring, while championship leader Kimi Antonelli starts from seventh place due to a penalty.
Defending champion Lando Norris will start first at the Hungaroring, while championship leader Kimi Antonelli starts from seventh place due to a penalty.
Lando Norris of McLaren will start from pole position at the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix, the 11th race of the season at the Hungaroring in Budapest, which starts at 3:00 PM local time. This is Norris's first pole position of the season, and the starting grid has been further altered by penalties affecting two drivers at the top of the overall standings: Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli.
Hamilton (Ferrari) initially secured second place in qualifying, just 0.012 seconds behind Norris's pole position time of 1:17.207, but stewards penalized him with a three-place grid drop for impeding Oscar Piastri. As a result, the Ferrari driver starts fifth, making his task significantly harder on a track where he has achieved numerous successes over his twenty-year career. According to data from Index.hr Sport, a win would be Hamilton's ninth at the Hungaroring.
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) originally qualified fourth, but he too received a three-place grid penalty. Stewards determined that the Italian driver did not slow down sufficiently under yellow flags, which were shown after Max Verstappen spun at the final corner in Q3. Antonelli, winner of six races this season and holder of 204 points, thus starts from seventh position.
At the back of the grid, there is a special situation for Sergio Perez, who drives for Cadillac. The driver qualified 22nd but will start from the pits because the team made changes to the car's setup while the parc fermé conditions were in effect, which according to the regulations requires a start from the pit lane, as per the official Formula 1 website.
Mercedes dominates the 2026 season, with their drivers winning eight of the first ten races. In the Constructors' Championship, Mercedes leads with 358 points, ahead of Ferrari (285) and McLaren (195). In the Drivers' Championship, Antonelli has 204 points, Hamilton 159, Russell 154, Leclerc 126, and Norris 103. Norris's pole position at the Hungaroring comes at a time when McLaren is trying to close the gap to the leading teams, and according to F1 World Magazine, Norris himself considers this result an 'overachievement' given Ferrari's current strength.
The 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix broadcast is available on RTL and the Voyo streaming platform. The race at the Hungaroring will start at 3:00 PM local Budapest time, and live coverage on the official Formula 1 website will be available from 2:00 PM.
