Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris had looked poised to continue their strong form at the Hungaroring after topping all three practice sessions and trading fastest laps throughout Q1 and Q2.
But a gusty wind shift before Q3 unsettled both drivers and left team principal Andrea Stella puzzled.
“Today the conditions were very weird,” Stella told Sky Sports F1. “Very dependent on the wind. There was a change of conditions from Q2 to Q3 and I have to say, we paid a bit of a price.”
McLaren had been confident of locking out the front row but instead ended the session four tenths slower than their own Q2 times, while Leclerc improved and snatched pole.
It marks only the fifth time this season that neither McLaren has started from the front of the grid.
Stella explained that the unpredictable gusts made the cars difficult to judge, particularly in Q3.
“Formula One cars are aerodynamic machines and adding the headwind, adding the tailwind or the side wind, it makes so much of an effect in terms of grip that you experience in a corner,” he said.
“So it depends a little bit on the amount of risks that you want to take and then you have to make some adaptations based on how the wind is behaving.”
Piastri, who will start second for the third consecutive race, was equally caught out by the shift.
“It was pretty big surprise, yup,” he said. “Charles out qualifying us is one surprise, but just how much we lost from Q2 to Q3 is a bit strange. So there’s definitely some things to dig into.
“I think my laps didn’t feel, the first lap didn’t feel great. But because the wind had shifted completely, I didn’t expect it, so that when you go into a corner, expecting a lot more downforce than you have, that’s going to happen.
“But the second lap I knew which way the wind was going and I couldn’t go any faster still. So that was a bit of a surprise.
“So it’s something to look into.”
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Despite the setback, Piastri remains optimistic. He’s won four of his eight races from second on the grid — including his very first Formula 1 win at this circuit a year ago — and believes strategy and the possibility of rain could open the door again on Sunday.
“I think we’re going to try and win the race, I think that’s our goal,” he said. “We’ll have to wait and see what the weather does as well. It’s a place where strategy is a factor as well.
“So there’s a lot of things where you can win or lose, but I’m sure we’ll both be trying to win the race in our own right.”
Teammate Norris was even more blunt in his assessment of Q3.
“I don’t know why it affected us more than others,” he said. “The 14.8 in Q2 was just like a nice, easy, good lap … Q3 we go out, it feels dreadful. 15.4. I’m like what the hell is going on? The wind changed completely.”
Norris admitted that both he and Piastri were spooked by their first runs and played it safe on their final laps — a decision that likely cost them pole.
“It was a bit harder for us to take risks on the final lap,” he said. “We probably could have gone a tenth quicker, but we could have gone probably a tenth slower. And a tenth slower puts you what, three, four positions back quite quickly.”
With both cars starting behind Leclerc, McLaren’s drivers were clear that the start and opening lap will be decisive, especially with rain in the forecast.
“It’s a long race,” Norris said. “There’s going to be rain as well, so I’m sure that will play a part.
“You can prepare as much as you want, but in races like these sometimes you just got to make decisions on the go.”
The race begins Sunday at 3pm. local time (11pm AEST).
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