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Victor Petkov
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Shocking Leclerc pole for Hungarian Grand Prix leaves both McLarens behind him
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The Monaco driver surprised everyone with a flying pace in his last outing to clinch the first position for Sunday's race

Charles Leclerc produced a stunning performance to clinch pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix, edging out McLaren’s Oscar Piastri by a razor-thin margin of just 0.026 seconds.

The Ferrari driver lit up the Hungaroring with a lap time of 1:15.372, giving himself the best possible chance to break a curious four-year trend that has seen every pole-sitter in Budapest fail to convert it into victory.

Lando Norris will line up third on the grid, narrowly behind his McLaren teammate, with Mercedes’ George Russell joining him on the second row. In a surprise twist, Aston Martin locked out the third row, with veteran Fernando Alonso leading teammate Lance Stroll in one of the team’s strongest qualifying displays of the season.

Further down the order, it was another frustrating outing for Yuki Tsunoda, who will start from 16th after his fourth Q1 elimination in the last eight race weekends. Joining him in the early exits was Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who was outqualified by rookie teammate Franco Colapinto—an increasingly bright spot in a difficult season for the French outfit.

Perhaps the biggest shock of the session came from Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time world champion endured his worst qualifying performance at the Hungaroring, failing to reach Q3 on pace for the first time in his Formula 1 career at the circuit.