Hungarian Grand Prix: Hamilton beats Verstappen to take his first pole since 2021

Lewis Hamilton beat Max Verstappen in Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying to take his first pole position since the penultimate race of the 2021 season.

Hamilton snatched pole position from the world champion by just 0.003 seconds with the very final lap of the session.

Lando Norris led team-mate Oscar Piastri to an all-McLaren second row.

Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu impressed with fifth place on the grid ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez made it into the top 10 on the grid for the first time in six races but it will do little to release the pressure on the Mexican as he was ninth and 0.433secs slower than the Dutchman.

Zhou’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas was seventh fastest, ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, whose eighth place seemed to confirm his team’s relative slump in recent races in the face of car upgrades from their main rivals.

Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg was the final man in the top 10, while Daniel Ricciardo managed 13th place on his return to Formula 1 with Alpha Tauri, out-qualifying team-mate Yuki Tsunoda at the first attempt.

There were contrasting fortunes for Hamilton’s Mercedes’ team-mate George Russell, who will start 18th after being hampered by traffic on his final run in Q1. (BBC)