George Russell will start the Hungarian Grand Prix on pole, helped by a shocking qualifying session from Red Bull.
Max Verstappen suffered power failure in Q3 and was not in the running, having to settle for 10th. And his team-mate Sergio Perez is one place further behind after only going 11th fastest and being knocked out in Q2.
It seemingly left Ferrari with the chance to take pole unchallenged, with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc showing the strongest pace. But out of nowhere came Russell with a monster lap to secure his the first pole position of his Formula 1 career.
Sainz and Leclerc are immediately behind him and ahead of Lando Norris, who impressed on the way to qualifying fourth. Esteban Ocon beat team-mate Fernando Alonso with both Alpines on the third row, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo, before reaching Verstappen in 10th.
Nicholas Latifi shocked everyone by going fastest overall in the wet practice session, but couldn't carry it over to qualifying, and will start the race from the very back. He was joined in the bottom five in Q1 by Williams team-mate Alexander Albon, AlphaTauri duo Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly as well as a very disappointed Sebastian Vettel.
His team-mate Lance Stroll made it through to the second part of the session but would go no further. He was joined by Haas pair Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher in failing to make it to Q3, along with Zhou Guanyu.
But the big shock of Q2 was a struggle for Perez. The Red Bull driver had a time initially deleted over track limits and later reinstated on video evidence, but still he was eliminated after possibly being blocked on his final flying lap by Magnussen and will start Sunday's race from 11th.
Q3 looked likely to provide a battle between Verstappen and the Ferraris, but then the Dutchman suffered the power issue that left him powerless to compete. After that it looked a sure thing for either Sainz or Leclerc, but out of nowhere came Russell.
He did not set the fastest time of the session in any of the three sectors, but was consistently quick enough over the whole lap to produce something spectacular. Russell was delighted afterwards – but keen to keep his feet on the ground as he told Sky Sports: "No points on Saturday, let's go tomorrow. Amazing. Amazing."
Full Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying results
- George Russell – Mercedes
- Carlos Sainz – Ferrari
- Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
- Lando Norris – McLaren
- Esteban Ocon – Alpine
- Fernando Alonso – Alpine
- Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
- Valtteri Bottas – Alfa Romeo
- Daniel Ricciardo – McLaren
- Max Verstappen – Red Bull
- Sergio Perez – Red Bull
- Zhou Guanyu – Alfa Romeo
- Kevin Magnussen – Haas
- Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
- Mick Schumacher – Haas
- Yuki Tsunoda – AlphaTauri
- Alexander Albon – Williams
- Sebastian Vettel – Aston Martin
- Pierre Gasly – AlphaTauri
- Nicholas Latifi – Williams
