In what looked like it would be a cakewalk to pole for McLaren, Leclerc stormed to P1 with a 1m15.372s — just 0.026s ahead of Oscar Piastri and 0.041s clear of Lando Norris.

It was the 27th pole of his career and his and Ferrari’s first of the 2025 season. It also marked the first time Leclerc has started on the front row in Hungary, and Ferrari’s first pole at the circuit since Sebastian Vettel in 2017.

“I did not expect that,” Leclerc said after the session. “I honestly have no words. It’s probably one of the best pole positions I’ve had. It’s the most unexpected for sure.”

Qualifying took place under mostly sunny skies, with a brief sprinkle of rain in Q2 and shifting conditions in Q3 providing challenges across the hour-long session.

Leclerc said the changing grip levels nearly saw him eliminated before the final shootout.

“Honestly the whole qualifying has been extremely difficult,” he admitted. “It was difficult for us to get to Q2. It was difficult for us to get to Q3.”

The Ferrari driver, however, mastered the conditions and backed up his pace from practice, where he was the only driver within half a second of the McLaren pair across all three sessions.

He said he was hopeful of converting pole into a win on Sunday.

“The start and turn one will be key,” he admitted. “I have no idea how it will go, but one thing is for sure I will do everything I can to keep first place.”

Piastri looked the most likely of the McLaren pair to take pole but couldn’t replicate his Q2 pace in the final session, with his Q3 time half a second slower.

The 24-year-old said a shift in wind direction compromised his final attempt.

“I think the wind changed a lot,” he said. “It always sounds pathetic blaming the wind but it basically did a 180 from Q2 to Q3.

“I was a bit surprised we couldn’t go quicker than that. Second is still a decent place to start.”

He added that he didn’t expect to be beaten by anyone other than his teammate.

“Charles has been quick all weekend,” Piastri said. “This morning he was closer than we expected. Things just changed a little bit and he did a really good job.

“I wasn’t expecting to be second to a Ferrari.”

Norris also said the wind shift hurt McLaren’s performance in Q3.

“The wind changed a lot and seemed to punish us in different ways,” he said. “Q2 I think we showed how quick we can go and our advantage, but as soon as the wind changed it went away.”

George Russell qualified fourth for Mercedes, ahead of the impressive Aston Martin duo of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.

It was the team’s best qualifying result of 2025 and only the second time both cars reached Q3 this season. It also marked just Stroll’s second Q3 appearance of the year.

Gabriel Bortoleto was another standout, qualifying seventh for his and Sauber’s best result of the year. He outqualified Max Verstappen, who ended up eighth — his lowest grid position of 2025.

Liam Lawson reached Q3 for the third time in the last four races, taking ninth ahead of teammate Isack Hadjar in tenth.

The light rain that fell at the start of Q2 did little to affect performance, with track temperatures remaining high and the drizzle clearing within minutes.

It didn’t help Lewis Hamilton, however, as the seven-time world champion became the biggest casualty of the session. He qualified only 13th — his second-worst result of the season — and missed Q3 in Hungary for just the second time in his career.

He was joined in elimination by Kimi Antonelli, the driver who replaced him at Mercedes, who finished 15th. The Italian initially qualified 11th but had his lap time in Q2 deleted for exceeding track limits, dropping him further down the grid.

Oliver Bearman, Carlos Sainz and Franco Colapinto were also knocked out in Q2.

In Q1, Yuki Tsunoda was eliminated for the fourth time since joining Red Bull, despite finishing just a tenth behind his teammate.

Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg and Alex Albon also dropped out in the opening session, with Albon’s exit marking his first Q1 elimination of the season.

The cars return to the track tomorrow for the race, which begins at 3 p.m. local time (11 p.m. AEST).