Ferrari’s Night to Remember Turns Bitter-Sweet as Leclerc Shocks the Grid with Victory but Hamilton’s Collapse Steals the Spotlight
Charles Leclerc beat Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix but Ferrari also suffered a blow with Lewis Hamilton well down the order
Lewis Hamilton was visibly emotional after qualifying in Hungary(Image: PA)
Lewis Hamilton declared himself “useless” and told Ferrari they “probably need to change driver” after another galling qualifying performance at the Hungarian Grand Prix. But there was joy on the other side of the garage as Charles Leclerc secured a shock pole position in Budapest.
McLaren dominated practice and, like this season’s Formula 1 title race, the battle for pole looked likely to be a straight duel between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. But as the wind changed, in swept Leclerc to seal “one of the best poles I’ve ever had”, and Ferrari’s first Grand Prix qualifying success of the year.
He was the only one representing the team in the final part of the session with Hamilton already back in the garage. The seven-time champ was 13th quickest but gained a place when Kimi Antonelli had a lap deleted and was dropped to 15th.
It was the latest in a string of qualifying disasters for Hamilton who was in the bottom five in both sessions at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend. The 40-year-old has been on pole nine times at the Hungaroring in his F1 career but could not connect with a track he loves.
And he was visibly emotional in a tough-to-watch interview afterwards, in which he made it clear he believes he is the problem. Hamilton mumbled: “It’s just me, every time. I’m useless, absolutely useless. The team has no problem – the other car is on pole. They probably need to change driver.”
Ferrari have generally lacked the pace to fight for victories so far this season but Leclerc has still managed five podium finishes up to now. And he could make it six today, or perhaps even get the team’s first win of the year, having stunned even himself by denying the McLarens.
On Thursday, Leclerc said the Hungary circuit is “by far my worst track of the season”. But he changed his tune after qualifying and said: “It’s a track where I’ve never really been successful, but since practice I felt like there was something that had changed this year.
“It was the most surprising pole position I have had I think, because after Q1 and Q2 I was expecting maybe P5 if I did everything perfectly. But it was a lot better than that! It’s been a very tricky qualifying for everybody, but we managed to do a really good job anyway.”
Piastri joins Leclerc on the front row with Norris third ahead of fellow Brit George Russell in his Mercedes. Fernando Alonso is the first man since Graham Hill in 1975 to compete in F1 beyond his 44th birthday but has overcome a back injury to drive this weekend and will start fifth as Aston Martin found pace.
Rookie Gabriel Bortoleto also shone in his Sauber, qualifying seventh ahead of Max Verstappen who has never won a race from eighth on the grid in his career. And he doesn’t expect that to change today in a Red Bull car he is not enjoying one bit, saying: “No grip front or rear and no real balance in the car, not one lap the whole weekend. It’s not been too bad in the past but, for whatever reason, this weekend nothing has really worked.”
