After a thrilling qualifying session at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes sprinted to the pole position for the first time since the final weeks of the 2021 season. He beat Max Verstappen of Red Bull and Lando Norris of McLaren.

Hamilton made it through the risky early exchanges in a session where Pirelli’s “Alternative Tyre Allocation” was in effect, forcing hard tires for Q1, medium tires for Q2, and soft tires for Q3. He then secured the top 10 shootout and his first pole position in 34 races.

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Another standout in qualifying was Zhou Guanyu, who finished in a thrilling fifth place, ahead of Charles Leclerc in the top Ferrari and teammate Valtteri Bottas, who highlighted Alfa Romeo’s quick pace on the challenging Hungaroring track.

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Fernando Alonso and his Aston Martin were forced to settle for eighth place, while Sergio Perez finally ended his streak of poor qualifying results by claiming ninth in his Red Bull. Nico Hulkenberg finished as the final Q3 contender.

Esteban Ocon of Alpine and Daniel Ricciardo, who has recently returned to Formula One, finished 11th and 13th respectively in Q2 and Q3, respectively. Carlos Sainz, who is a partner of Charles Leclerc’s in the Ferrari team, was unable to join the Monegasque in Q3 due to a narrow cutoff.

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Complete starting grid:

Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:16.609

Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:16.612

Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:16.694

Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:16.905

Zhou Guanyu ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 1:16.971

Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:16.992

Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 1:17.034

Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:17.035

Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:17.0451

Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 1:17.1861

Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:17.703

Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:17.841

Daniel Ricciardo ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 1:18.002

Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:18.144

Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT 1:18.217

Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:18.917

Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 1:18.919

George Russell MERCEDES 1:19.027

Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 1:19.206

Logan Sargeant WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:19.248