McLaren dominates qualifying in Hungary

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will occupy the front row of the grid at the Hungarian Grand Prix, after an impressive qualifying session at the Hungaroring. Norris took pole position with a time of 1m15.227s, just 0.022 seconds ahead of his teammate Piastri. This is the first time McLaren has achieved a 1-2 in qualifying in a long time, highlighting the team's progress.

Tsunoda's Incident and Its Impact on Qualifying

The qualifying session was interrupted by a red flag caused by Yuki Tsunoda's crash at turn 5. This prevented several drivers from improving their times, including Max Verstappen, who finished third with a time of 1m15.555s. Red Bull decided not to send Verstappen back out after the restart, as they felt they couldn't improve his time on used tires.

Performance of Other Drivers

Carlos Sainz will line up alongside Verstappen on the second row, while Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will occupy the fifth and sixth positions respectively. The Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were seventh and eighth, with Daniel Ricciardo ninth after improving his time after the red flag. Tsunoda completed the top ten.

Problems for Sergio Pérez

Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez crashed in the first phase of qualifying, hitting the exit of turn 8. This incident eliminated him from the session and raised questions about his future with the team, given his inconsistent performance in recent races. Pérez qualified 16th, marking his fourth Q1 elimination in the last six races.

Eliminated in Qualifying

George Russell, who had fuel issues, finished 17th, followed by Zhou Guanyu in 18th. The Alpine drivers, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, failed to move out of the last positions, finishing 19th and 20th.

Weather Conditions

Despite the rain between the Formula 2 race and the start of qualifying, the track dried enough to allow the use of soft tires in Q1. The light rain that continued during the session wasn't enough to significantly affect the drivers' performance.