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00:00...around this final corner, at the moment a tentative grip for Lewis Hamilton on that pole position, Norris has snatched
00:06it by 12,000th of a second, Lando Norris takes pole here in Budapest, and hey, they are delighted about
00:17that, they really are, Oscar Piastri's had to back out P5 for him,
00:22Lewis Hamilton came within 13 milliseconds of becoming the oldest pole sitter in 44 years, he's on the front row
00:32alongside Lando Norris, the second yellow flag was for George Russell, stopping at turn one.
00:38We saw him adjusting something on the steering wheel, he had to give up through the last corner anyway, Russell
00:44starts seventh at the moment, no penalties incoming that we know about, or expect with power units or what have
00:52you, but Lando Norris then delivered when he had to, and that was, wow, and it's not when you see
00:59Max Verstappen make mistakes like that, is it?
01:02No, having to push Martin harder than the grip allowed.
01:05Yeah, and just like throwing caution to the wind in the final corner, back end of the car, suspect just
01:10wouldn't stick for him, we're about to see, he's thrown it in, and he had to correct a slide on
01:16the way in, and he's sort of got a bit of an anti-lock going on there, and Max did
01:23not just leave it there and ruin everybody's lap, he drove out of the way,
01:27but that enabled Norris, then, if Max had stayed there, then Norris wouldn't have had a chance.
01:32Certainly wouldn't, it's compromised Antonelli, it compromised Russell, they were the next cars on the scene, but everything had been
01:39cleared up by the time this man arrived at him.
01:43Yeah!
01:45Gorgeous.
01:46Go, well done boys, thank you very much.
01:49For the second time in three years here in Budapest, and for the first time this season, Lando Norris is
01:57on pole, Mercedes Power, but not Mercedes, who gets around 11 to find another car ahead of them on the
02:06grid.
02:06Well deserved too, you'd have to say. We didn't, I was watching it, but you were commentating on something else,
02:12but Lewis had a really wide run through the last corner, kicking up the dust on the outside a little
02:18bit, so a difficult final lap for the two Ferraris, but Norris found a way through the chaos.
02:25He was the only one that really improved substantially on his first flying lap, the rest were all struggling a
02:32bit on that one.
02:33At the margin 12-kins, which means the last five Hungarian Grand Prix poles have been decided by a combined
02:40margin of 0.107 of a second, like just over a tenth the last five.
02:48It does deliver drama in qualifying this place, it really does.
02:52I think Lewis felt that that pole would have been his there, but for whatever reason, the improvement just didn't
02:57come with the second lap, and even improvement by a couple of hundreds.
03:03Would have done it for him.
03:04You never wanted to be in the past, in the early days here, on the right-hand side of the
03:08grid, did you?
03:09Second, fourth, sixth, but it sort of sorted itself out a bit these days, but it's still not good.
03:15No, it's not. The F3 race this morning, I think it was Freddie Slater was second on the grid, didn't
03:20seem to get away very well, and I'm not sure in the F2 race that it was...
03:26You certainly in the past wanted to be, see if it makes a difference, an incident involving Hamilton and Piastri
03:34has been noted for impeding.
03:36As Lewis Hamilton was on a lap, could Piastri have impeded him, or is it vice versa?
03:41Vice versa, because we saw Piastri get out of the way on Lewis's lap, and then we'd have to repass
03:49Lewis after Lewis finished his lap.
03:50So, because I'm pretty sure we saw Piastri getting right out of the way, didn't we, coming up turn 12.
03:57Yeah. We'll keep an eye on that. The stewards might decide to investigate. It's just been noted for the time
04:04being.
04:04Nico Hülkenberg qualifies tenth, by the way.
04:06Arvid Lindblad ninth on the grid in the Racing Bulls.
04:11That's the second time in three races he's been ninth on the grid.
04:15He was seventh last time out at Spa.
04:18Isaac Hadjar, P8 for him.
04:21Disappointment for George Russell. Why did his car stop?
04:24Was there... Well, they need to give a sample of fuel at the end of qualifying.
04:30Did he stop before that fuel ran to a level below that they need?
04:39Is it a litre of fuel you need to have, Martin?
04:41It is, indeed.
04:42So, was he ordered to stop because the car was running out of fuel?
04:46But that doesn't count, because they'll take that into consideration,
04:49so that you don't stop out on the track to make sure you've got a litre plus.
04:54So, is there another issue affecting George Russell's car?
04:59A lot to tidy up. Don't go anywhere.
05:01Natalie will be back in the paddock with Ant and Jamie in a few moments.
05:05But David Coulthard is hosting the post-qualifying interviews down in Parc Ferme.
05:09So, welcome to our top three finishers from the qualifying session.
05:14Well, Landon Orris, welcome back.
05:16It's been a while. Your first pole position as world champion.
05:20Yeah. No, thanks.
05:21Thanks. Very, very happy. Very happy to be back on top.
05:26A tough, tough quali.
05:27Obviously, these guys here were very quick.
05:30And it's been pretty tight the whole weekend.
05:32But we've seen quick from the first laps that we did,
05:35and we brought a few upgrades.
05:36And it's hard to know how much it helps in terms of lap time,
05:39but it certainly helped today.
05:41So, yeah, very, very happy to be back on top,
05:43especially at a track where you certainly want to be on pole.
05:46Well, it's been great for us as fans to not know
05:50who was really going to end up with the pole position in the end.
05:53It was one hundredth of a second.
05:56You knew Lewis had the pole.
05:58You were going into that lap.
05:59You nailed that first sector.
06:01It's been a sector that's been strong for you all weekend.
06:03So, the confidence was building around the rest of the lap.
06:07I mean, honestly, I had confidence the whole of today.
06:11My laps in Q3 were not the best, even the one at the end.
06:15So, pleasantly surprised to be on top.
06:17But we've been doing a good job.
06:19The car's been feeling good.
06:20I've had good confidence.
06:22I certainly pushed it a little bit more on the last lap.
06:24Some paid off, some didn't.
06:27But the main thing is we did it in the end.
06:29So, no, I'm very, very pleased for the team.
06:30A big thanks to them for working so hard.
06:31And, yeah, another big job for tomorrow.
06:35Okay, we'll come back to you.
06:36So, if we can just move on to Lewis.
06:38I can see the disappointment when you were standing there.
06:41You were sort of reflecting on that last lap just didn't come to you at all.
06:45Because you laid down the position.
06:47There's where the track was.
06:49But the final set of tires didn't talk to the car.
06:52Yeah, firstly, congratulations to Lando.
06:54It was a great lap.
06:56Yeah, we've been doing a great job all weekend.
06:58I felt solid throughout qualifying.
07:00And, yeah, for some reason, I mean, we went out first, which I don't think was the right call.
07:06But then, on top of that, just the grip, for some reason, wasn't there on that last lap, I think,
07:11for both Charles and I.
07:13And, yeah, it's obviously a track that I love.
07:17I think we're obviously competitive.
07:18But I think tomorrow's going to be a hard day.
07:21Yeah, you've got an amazing record around here.
07:23If you'd managed by 100th and a little bit, that would have been your 10th pole on this track.
07:27So, you've got a real connection here.
07:30You're teed up nicely for the Grand Prix tomorrow.
07:31But I'm still sensing that, you know, that that's a pole that got away from you.
07:38I mean, ultimately, yeah.
07:40We were quickest throughout qualifying.
07:42So, it definitely got away from us.
07:43I think my mind is just elsewhere right this second.
07:45Because at the end of the...
07:48Once I finish my lap, I don't know if I got in the way of someone.
07:51So, I'm just trying to run that through my mind.
07:54Because I wasn't aware anyone was coming.
07:55Okay.
07:56Well done on that second place for tomorrow.
07:58Charles, again, like Lewis, you were not able to find any improvement at the end on that final set of
08:04tires.
08:06Lando, of course, was.
08:07So, put us in the cockpit for you.
08:09What was happening with the balance of your car?
08:12I mean, today there was quite a bit of a wind change.
08:14And I don't think I did a great job anticipating it with the car setup.
08:18I felt a little bit off from this morning.
08:21And then qualifying has been quite messy, to be honest.
08:24We've been a bit unlucky in Q2 with the yellow flag in the last sector.
08:27And then we were kind of trying to...
08:30I mean, we were playing catch-up.
08:31But the pace was never to the level of Lewis.
08:35So, yeah.
08:36It was all about trying to maximise it today.
08:38And I felt I kind of did it.
08:41Okay.
08:42Well done on getting that third place.
08:45Finally, back to you, Lando.
08:47It's just one part of the weekend.
08:49But it gives you a clean run, the right side of the grid.
08:52And what is a long run down into turn one.
08:54So, what can we expect tomorrow?
08:56We've had a little insight to some of the longer run paces.
09:00But tomorrow is another day.
09:02Yeah, it certainly is.
09:04I mean, I'm in the best position for it, of course.
09:06But these guys, they get good starts.
09:08They've been fast all season.
09:10So, I'm expecting still a tough race.
09:14Obviously, they started on...
09:15They did Q1 on the medium.
09:16So, it'll be interesting to know what tie they're going to start on tomorrow.
09:19So, they may be in potentially a slightly better position with some things.
09:23But otherwise, we did the job that we had to do today.
09:26So, I'm pleased for that.
09:27And tonight, we'll make sure we prepare in the best way possible for tomorrow.
09:30Okay, congratulations, pole position.
09:32Thank you, mate.
09:36So, all the talk was of Ferrari.
09:38Those upgrades on the McLaren clearly working, though.
09:41Can Lando Norris convert his first pole of the season to a first win of 2026?
09:47Well, you've got all of this to enjoy in the lead-up to Lights Out.
09:52Formula One pit stops.
09:54Changing four wheels and tyres in two seconds is seriously impressive.
09:58So, how do they work and what happens when they don't?
10:01Now, obviously, your average pit stop, it's between two and three seconds.
10:04There's a lot going on in a very short amount of time.
10:07But to understand what's really happening, we have to slow everything down.
10:12Did your dad think you might be a French Isaac Newton?
10:15Was it meant to be the Sorbonne, maybe a job at CERN or something like that?
10:19Did you do your disappointment to them being a racing driver?
10:22Yeah, he didn't expect me to be Formula One, to be honest.
10:26I think I was supposed to follow the academic route, you know?
10:31But I think that's the best job on earth and they're happy.
10:35How can a driver so young mind-manage and navigate all the intense pressures of being a works Formula One
10:43driver?
10:43That's the goal, ultimately, to even fight for the championship.
10:52So, it's shaping up to be a great race.
10:55Tomorrow will be on air at 12.30 with lights out at 2 o'clock.
11:01Loads of sport coming up on the Sky Sports Network.
11:04The football season kicks off again next week with over 1,500 games live across Sky Sports.
11:10Rangers head to Tannadise to take on Dundee United in the Scottish Premiership opener next Friday.
11:16Then it's the newly relegated Wolves against Blackburn Rovers to open the championship season in August.
11:21Before Arsenal start their Premier League defence at home for Frank Lampard's newly promoted Coventry City later in the month.
11:28We also have the WSL season starting in September, bringing the best of women's football back to centre stage.
11:36It's over to the Winter Gardens in Blackpool for the finals of the World Match Play Darts.
11:41It's semi-final day today before both the men's and women's finals tomorrow.
11:45Can Luke Littler retain his title?
11:49We also have the 100 cricket tomorrow.
11:52Manchester Super Giants take on Birmingham Phoenix in both the men's and women's at Old Trafford.
11:57Then later, Trent Rockets take on London Spirit at Trent Bridge.
12:01The women's at 2.25, the men's at 5.30.
12:06The second instalment to the blockbuster video game franchise Mortal Kombat 2 is available now at Sky Cinema.
12:16Back here in Budapest, though, it is Lando Norris who is celebrating his first pole position as world champion.
12:24His first in 2026.
12:27All the analysis to how he managed it at the bitter end of qualifying on the way next.
12:43So it's Lando Norris. He's done it. Snatched it from Lewis Hamilton, who is looking to make it a record
12:50tenth pole here.
12:51Not to be, though. Lando Norris taking his second pole here, the first in 2024.
12:56He did, of course, win here last year when Charles put it on pole.
13:00I mean, were you expecting that? I don't think you predicted it. I don't think any of us did.
13:03I didn't predict it, but I feel like we should have maybe expected a bit more just because of, obviously,
13:07the pace we saw in FP3.
13:09We know how good Lando is here. And they've clearly found something that's working with that McLaren.
13:13They've bought upgrades. I think this is, obviously, a chassis circuit.
13:16And I think managing the deployment and everything is less of a factor, which, though they've got the Mercedes power
13:21unit, has always been a bit of a head scratch for everyone.
13:24And they've managed to just fully focus on their car, on their chassis, the upgrades they've brought, and it's fully
13:28paying off.
13:29So an amazing lap by Lando. I think, yeah, the driver can make a huge difference here, and I think
13:33he did just that.
13:34Well, you did say beforehand it will all come down to the driver because the margins are so very small.
13:39That will be such a massive boost to him in what has actually been a pretty difficult season.
13:43It has. I mean, it's interesting, kind of, the psychology there because I know they were fully going for the
13:48World Championship last year.
13:49They achieved that. But then coming into this year, I don't feel like we felt this kind of same hunger.
13:53It feels like they know that they're a few months behind in development.
13:56They know that they're not going to be competing or fighting at the front or in previous races mainly.
14:02And so it feels like a bit of a slow burner for them this season.
14:04And then suddenly now, yeah, this is going to be a great momentum boost and a great for the team
14:09morale.
14:09Everyone kind of feeling the same positivity as they felt, hopefully, a bit last year.
14:13And it's great that also the upgrades are obviously paying off.
14:16Yeah, I do think the hunger's there, but they were definitely managing expectations for the early part of the season.
14:21Well, let's just go down to Anne at the Skypar to analyse Loris' lap. Anne.
14:26Yeah, we thought that was going to be a tense qualifying session.
14:29It didn't let us down at all.
14:31And Lando Norris, I mean, I'm sure some people were surprised, but he's really been on it the whole time
14:36this weekend.
14:37And this is a circuit he really enjoys.
14:39And he could get stuck into this lap.
14:41So as we can as well, running on board with him, heading down that main straight, that very tricky braking
14:46zone.
14:46He had to get that right and had to get it turned in nicely to turn one, which the car
14:51does.
14:51Then he just lets the car drift ever so slightly.
14:55Not a snap of oversteer.
14:56He's got it well in balance on the exit of one.
14:59Then into two.
14:59Nice and tight entry.
15:01Let's it run out momentarily to the outside of that corner.
15:03And, yeah, flat out through turn three before the next run up the hill now towards turn four.
15:09Let's watch this one.
15:10Oh, a little bit of understeer.
15:12Runs a little bit too wide there for comfort, but he keeps it under control.
15:16And then turn five, he gets really well.
15:19That's exactly how you want to take it.
15:20And then into six.
15:21And then seven.
15:22Doesn't get too greedy on the left-hand kerb of seven.
15:25Then into turn eight.
15:26This is where he's absolutely fantastic.
15:27Eight and nine.
15:28Not too greedy as well.
15:30And gets a really nice exit through that one.
15:32Flat out through the left-hand kerb of ten.
15:34Downshift into six gear for turn 11.
15:37Doesn't use too much of the kerb.
15:38That doesn't unsettle the car.
15:40And then a very early turn into turn 12.
15:42And the rear of the car, he keeps in check on the exit.
15:46It's really nicely driven.
15:47When the track is losing grip all the time as it heats up, he's able to anticipate it somehow.
15:54This is the final corner where he had the car snap away from him before.
15:57Gets it better that time around.
15:59And it was just enough to topple the mighty Lewis Hamilton around his favourite circuit as well.
16:06He was robbed today, wasn't he, Lewis Hamilton?
16:08Could have been a record-breaking, what, 10th pole position around the same circuit.
16:12But this guy here had the answer for fastest lap.
16:16Brilliant stuff.
16:18Thank you, Ant.
16:19Yeah, he certainly spoiled Lewis' party today, didn't he?
16:21We did fully expect it to happen, I think Lewis did as well.
16:25Let's hear now from the McLaren camp, starting with Andrea Stella.
16:30Well, Andrea, congratulations.
16:32Lando says it's a nice surprise, to paraphrase him.
16:37But did you think you might have the pace on Ferrari?
16:40It's a nice surprise.
16:42You know, we took some upgrades here, we saw that the upgrades were working well, we added
16:48a few tenths of a second to the car, but we never thought that this would be enough to
16:53put the car in pole position.
16:55And honestly, I think tomorrow the Ferraris remain the favourites, even today, none of them improved
17:03in the second attempt, so I think they left a little bit of performance on the table.
17:07We take the encouraging indications that come from this result, we remain realistic, there's
17:13still quite a lot of work ahead of us to be consistently in the position we are today.
17:18OK, I know you're an optimist at heart, but you don't think you can better Ferrari, I mean,
17:25given the difficulties of overtaking round here?
17:28Well, first of all, it's a long run from the grid to corner one, so we will see, we'll
17:34have to stay in that position with Lando.
17:37We also want to be in position to fight for the podium with Oscar.
17:41It's a shame for Oscar that he had the impeding in corner one, because I think he had quite
17:45a lot of performance, he was starting to find a good tuning with the conditions today, so
17:51it's a shame we didn't see the last attempt.
17:54Obviously, we are here to give it a go, when you start from pole position, you go for the
17:57victory, but we know that our competitors are very strong, and we don't have to forget
18:02that Mercedes and Antonelli are not very far, and normally they are extremely fast, especially
18:09in race runs.
18:10Well, well done, the upgrades have paid off, and well done on Pops.
18:12If I may say, Ted, thanks, I want to take the opportunity to thank the team for the efforts
18:17that were required for a few months in order to develop, manufacture, and deliver these
18:25upgrades that helped our team make a step forward, so thanks to the team.
18:29Great stuff, thank you very much, Andrea.
18:32Well, Oscar, you were affected by the yellow flags out there, even from Verstappen's spin,
18:37but overall, was there much more in the car, you thought obviously Lando's taken pole?
18:42Yeah, I mean, if it was just Lewis not looking in his mirrors, the yellow flag wasn't my problem,
18:47so a shame, because it meant I didn't get a lap in either way, but yeah, clearly the car's
18:53been quick today.
18:54I've certainly been chasing it, it's not been easy, but yeah, clearly there's performance
19:03there.
19:03Yeah, I think the stewards have noted what Lewis did on track.
19:07Just in general, the upgrades come, it seems to have delivered something, you obviously
19:12missed the first practice session, and actually, with the conditions being quite unusual here,
19:16a few drivers that missed it have always felt they've been playing catch-up.
19:20Yeah, definitely, I think that's definitely not helped, for sure, but you know, the wind conditions
19:27have been quite different today, so it was a bit of a reset in some ways, but I just feel
19:32like I've been chasing it the whole weekend to an extent, so yeah, I feel like I need another
19:38few practice sessions to really get on top of things, which we don't have.
19:42Thank you.
19:44So, this is the moment that Oscar's talking about here, as he heads down towards turn
19:49one, he's got Hamilton right in front of him, you see the lock-up from Piastri, he's in the
19:54dirty air, and clearly from the onboard shot, you can see what he's talking about, he does
19:59get, in fact, impeded through that corner, and then he drives alongside him and gives him
20:04a sarcastic thumbs up, just because it happens quite quickly, there we go, there's the thumbs
20:09up, and then that's, I mean, that is his lap gone, so it wasn't the yellow flag, it was
20:14the fact that this happened between the two of them, actually, Lewis is apologising there,
20:19his hand goes up to say, look, I've realised now I've held you up, but I believe that Lewis
20:25was just ending a lap there, and Oscar's starting one, so I'm still yet to find out exactly which
20:31lap this was from Lewis, I believe, I'm being told, it wasn't his very last lap, so I wonder
20:38if this was at the end of Lewis's fastest lap that he set, but I can only speculate at
20:43this moment, I'm sorry, I don't have the information, but what I can tell you is that, yeah, that
20:47was a clear impeding in turn one, as far as Piastri is concerned, and I think, yeah, it's
20:52hard to argue against that, so, yeah, let's see what happens with this one. Back to you,
20:58Nats.
21:00Thank you, Ant. Now, Martin, before I get your take on Norris's poll, let's just discuss
21:05that, because you sense that Lewis was distracted by this idea that he may be getting a penalty,
21:11what do you think?
21:12He will get a penalty, because it was a clear impeding, so it's three places, generally,
21:19unless you impede in a dangerous, or whether you're intending to, you know, go across the
21:26track and actually proactively slow somebody down, which he didn't, so it will be a three-place
21:32grid drop. I would be pretty damn sure, because, obviously, Oscar got out of his way. Lewis is
21:38like, was he on a hot lap? He was bound to be on a hot lap, because it was the
21:41final moments
21:42of qualifying, so clearly he didn't get message over the radio, but that doesn't mean to say
21:48you can get away with impeding, sadly. So that would be my call.
21:53Which would be a real shame, Jamie, because given how much was expected and hopeful from
21:58that session for Lewis, to end that way would be a shame. I mean, you know, it's a slam dunk,
22:03as Martin says, but...
22:04Yeah, I think penalty-wise, it's, yeah, if it's slam dunk, it's slam dunk. I don't think it's...
22:09There's a lot of things that are a shame. I think in terms of his performance, it would have been
22:12a big shame if he was on pole, but, yeah, impressive, impressive lap. A shame they couldn't
22:16improve at the end there. This is the impeding. Yeah, I think the annoying thing there is it would
22:21have been a lot easier if he had got out of the way, obviously, going into the corner, and I
22:24think
22:24he clearly didn't expect Oscar to creep up in that quickly going into turn one, and, yeah, the fact
22:30that he also acknowledges that it was his fault, it kind of feels like he's put the hands up
22:34and accepts that he might be getting penalty there.
22:37OK, let's bring it back to Oscar's teammate, Lando Norris. Oh, Team Radio.
22:43No? OK. Let's hear your thoughts on Lando Norris getting that pole.
22:48It was great, wasn't it? I mean, they've looked strong all through today, and he delivered the
22:54lap, he navigated the yellow flags, and they went out very late. It seemed to be...
22:59It was the right decision, obviously, for McLaren. Oscar was very, very unlucky there, so I think
23:05it was a very well-deserved pole position.
23:07Why do you think that Lewis wasn't able to improve, though, on that second run? We saw
23:12the track evolving throughout, getting quicker and quicker, but then not right at the very
23:14end.
23:15I mean, it wasn't just Lewis, it was also Charles. So whether they tried something different
23:18with tyre preparation, tyre pressure, something that didn't work the run before that they felt
23:23like they could improve, it's no coincidence that it was both of them, and Max Verstappen as well,
23:27so it's one of those anomalies that they'll dig through the data now and know in retrospect,
23:33but in the moment, it clearly didn't work out.
23:35OK, time for a quick break now, after which we will hear from both the Mercedes drivers.
23:38They finished Antonelli fourth and Russell seventh. That's where they'll start the races from tomorrow.
23:44We'll get the thoughts of Jamie and Martin on the way next.
23:56Welcome back to Hungary, where Kimi Antonelli and George Russell have qualified fourth and
24:01seventh respectively. Let's hear from the Mercedes camp now, starting with Toto.
24:06Well, Toto, shake that down for us. It's a fickle track, the Hungarian ring. You never know when
24:11there's going to be grip and when there isn't.
24:14Yeah, but at the end it was all in the, you know, in the same conditions, and today I think
24:19Kimi was a bit unlucky at the end. George was unlucky with what looks like a water leak,
24:24so it was an underwhelming session. OK, so George was, there's always a doubt at the end of
24:29qualifying about fuel samples and all of that. He was told to stop because of a water leak. There's
24:33no doubt about a fuel sample. No, no, no. It's a water leak that appeared when he was riding over
24:39curb. OK. And then what happened? Where did the grip go? Why was it, I mean, from Q2, we heard
24:44Kimi's
24:44radio message, Bono, there's no grip. Can you, have you managed to put your finger on why yet? No,
24:49I think when you have these differences in grip levers, it's just the tyre is not happy. You're
24:53either too cold or too hot. This is when you win or lose the sessions. OK. And just finally,
25:00hindsight is a wonderful thing, and we can all be clever on a, usually a Monday afternoon,
25:04but today a Saturday afternoon. Should Kimi have actually done FP1 instead of Fred?
25:11I don't know. At a certain stage, every driver has to give up those FP1s. So whether it was here
25:17somewhere else, it will always be a disadvantage. A little disadvantage, but you don't think it was
25:21decisive? Every margin matters, and of course, you'd rather do all sessions, but the program
25:27is designed, you know, to give young drivers the opportunity, and you need to take it. OK,
25:32we'll see what happens tomorrow. Thank you very much, Toto. Well, George, can you let us know,
25:36first of all, why you stopped out on track there at the end of Q3? We lost water pressure and
25:43I had a water leak. So when I stopped on track, the car was leaking all of the water. So
25:48we don't
25:48know where it's come from. Yeah, fingers crossed it doesn't affect anything for tomorrow. OK. And
25:54just in terms of Mercedes base relative to, well, Ferrari and McLaren ultimately, it looked like you
26:01were wrestling the car a lot out there. Is it a surprise? Why have you been lacking performance?
26:08Well, I think there were clues yesterday because we were probably even further off yesterday,
26:12but we have the strongest race pace, which tends to say it's not a car problem, it's a tyre problem.
26:19Maybe, well, time will tell tomorrow if we've struck the right balance between the qualifying setup and
26:25the race setup. We probably know we could make the car faster for qualifying trim at the expense
26:31of race performance. As I said, time will tell tomorrow if we've made that right balance. But
26:39it's going to be difficult to overtake. Yeah, it would have been nice to be a bit higher up. Thank
26:44you.
26:46Kimmy, it's the second row. Affected at the end by the yellow flags, could you have made a place or
26:51two?
26:52I think I think like looking at the lap, I got a gust of tailwind in nine, lost a tenth
27:00there.
27:01And then in the last corner from the previous laps, there was a good tenth and a half because
27:06the lap before I got quite a few, you know, just didn't maximize the grip. So also the yellow flag
27:13came while I was entering the corner. So I did try my, you know, my best to lift. I did
27:19lift,
27:19but also, you know, I gave up quite a bit of minimum speed compared to before. And it was a
27:24shame. I
27:25think P3 would have been for sure. But, you know, don't think pole position. I think I would have
27:32been very close, probably half a tenth to Lando, but still not good enough for pole. Yeah. George
27:39thinks maybe Mercedes have set the car up better for the race than qualifying. You also missed
27:44first practice and conditions are very challenging here with an extra session have helped you out just
27:50a little bit. Yeah, I mean, for sure is, um, I've realized this year that especially with this track,
27:56with this car, it's, it's never the best to miss, uh, FP1 because you kind of get into the rhythm.
28:04And, um, so for sure, you know, it's, um, it definitely put you in a little bit in the back
28:11foot, especially when there are challenging conditions like, like this weekend, uh, but at
28:17least now they're out of the way. So I don't have to worry about that for, for the rest of
28:20the season.
28:21And, uh, but for sure, I feel like, you know, with maybe FP1, you can also extract maybe a little
28:28bit more from the car. Uh, also maybe set it up, uh, a bit differently, but you know, we just
28:33tried our
28:34best and I think as a team, we, we did a good job and now looking forward to tomorrow because
28:39race pace looks to be good. Well, thank you. Well, they're busy looking for a better understanding
28:45because this is a far cry from the dominance we have seen from Mercedes all season in qualifying
28:50fourth and seventh. I mean, that is actually seventh is their worst performance of the year
28:55and fourth ties Kimi's worst performance from Austria. He might start third, uh, with, with,
29:02the, um, Lewis situation, but yeah, they've, they've been missing time. It was quite clearly
29:07today, um, McLaren versus Ferrari, wasn't it? So they've not really been there. I think they'd have
29:13absolutely aced everything. They, they could have been, uh, the front was find out they've got a better
29:17race pace, but track position is absolutely everything here. And, uh, I think we can go to Ant now who
29:23is
29:23having a little look at the yellow flag incident and what more can you tell us?
29:27Yeah. So, uh, just looking at Kimi's, uh, incident here under the yellow flag. So the thing to listen
29:32out for is a single yellow. It's going to come up on the, on the left hand side, this panel
29:36up here,
29:36it's black at the moment. It's going to go yellow, single yellow, and there's a single yellow being
29:40waved by the Marshall just pops out on the left hand side as well. So again, what you're looking for
29:46is just a lift, but it's more complicated here into the final corner because you have to lift anyway.
29:51So it's a bit different to how we saw Leclerc lifting in a dead straight line before,
29:56but I believe that there's a moment where Kimi lifts off briefly, then gets momentarily back
30:02on the throttle for a short space before then he goes into the corner and lifts again. So let's,
30:07you might have to have a listen for it twice, but here we go.
30:14So obviously there's a car in front, but the thing that he's having to, ironically,
30:17the thing you have to lift for is the yellow flag. So I believe that there's a little bit of
30:23a
30:23hesitation when he sees the yellow flag and it's quite late to react to. Look, watch again.
30:30I feel like he's training the throttle and like lifts and then trails the throttle before he gets back
30:36on power. So was it enough? That's the thing that the difficulty, like I said, is because you have
30:42to lift anyway in this final corner. So I think that's one for, if he is under investigation,
30:48that's one for the stewards to decide. Back to you, Nats.
30:53What do you think, Martin? I don't want to make excuses, but it's very hard for us standing here
30:58because the picture and what's coming through our luck is not actually. He was lifting off halfway
31:06down the straight. So I can't tell, but the best person in the world for analysing at the skypads,
31:12Anthony Davidson, and he thinks he did. So I'll go with that. Okay. I mean, I tend to agree with
31:16Ant.
31:16I think it's probably a safe bet. Well, I think none of us can tell. The data will be obvious.
31:20The team will have telemetry that shows this lap versus another lap and show if it's worse or not
31:26than, than another lap. And obviously there's a little bit of margin there as the run goes on.
31:33But equally, I think it'll be quite clear if he has or hasn't. Well, potential infringement aside,
31:38why do you think they didn't qualify better? Because I mean, obviously Norris, those upgrades
31:44looking good. Is it a case of everybody else doing slightly better than they imagined or they did worse?
31:48Maybe, but it's not like they've been dominant all weekend. You know, Kimi said he missed FP1. He then
31:53got in an FP2. The car was a handful and they were actually a chunk away from where we saw
31:58in qualifying.
31:59So actually, I think they closed the gap in a way. He said it wasn't obviously an optimised lap. We
32:03know
32:03that through the yellow flag, but also he said about a gust of wind. So I think they have actually
32:08closed the gap. It's just such a chassis dependent track and the great power unit hasn't sort of saved them
32:13as much as much here. But I think it's just closed the gap as we can see between all the
32:18top three
32:18teams. OK, we can head back to Ant to clear up the Hamilton Piastri incident.
32:24Yeah, thanks, Nats. And also just to just to clear up a bit what Jamie was saying as well to
32:28you is that
32:29it's, you know, every track is unique and it's so close. The competition this year is so close that
32:35every circuit is unique. Some you would say at which it's what we want to see. We want to see
32:41the best drivers. It should be a driver's championship, not a not a car championship.
32:46I know there is a a constructors championship at stake as well. But for me, it's the drivers
32:51against each other that really gets the juices flowing. And today, that's what it was all about.
32:56It's, you know, the Norris's lap versus Hamilton's lap was, you know, that was that was more driver than
33:01car. And that's why you see such separation as well. So it's just the track where it clearly
33:06hasn't suited Mercedes this time around. It doesn't mean that Ferraris or McLaren's upgrade
33:11and now now they're the best. It's going to ebb and flow. It's only a week ago that Mercedes had
33:16the best car and nothing has really changed. But back to this situation here with Hamilton,
33:22white flag on the left hand side means a slow car, slow moving car on track. And that slow moving
33:27car is Oscar Piastri on his out lap. This is the last lap that Lewis was on. So just to
33:34clarify what
33:34I was saying earlier on, this is Lewis's last lap. So he comes up to Piastri now, who politely gets
33:40out
33:40of the way. Lewis is continuing on. Yes, it wasn't his fastest lap of Q3. As we know, he was
33:46on a slower
33:47lap and things didn't go his way that particular time. And yeah, makes a bit of a mess of the
33:52final
33:53corner as well. It's a lap to forget and probably quite disappointed. It backs off even before he's
33:58got to the line. And he's looking around, checks the left mirror and then the right mirror.
34:03And he keeps looking at the right mirror actually. So you can see a McLaren coming at him
34:08and goes slowly through the corner and he's still looking. Look, and this is the moment on the exit
34:15where he's warned now that Piastri is coming up on him. And that's, you see the exchange between the
34:20two of them. So it was just to, just to reiterate, that was his final lap, which wasn't his best
34:27lap
34:27of Q3. Now, if he, he's under investigation, if he is to be penalized for that, um, you know,
34:35do you lose just the, do you lose this lap or do you lose, um, the, the, the fastest lap?
34:41I, I don't
34:41know at the rule. I think it might be just a slam dunk three place, uh, grid penalty, but we
34:46can hear
34:47from Fred Russell now who's with Ted. Well, it had looked so good for the whole season,
34:54for the whole, uh, weekend. I mean, 12,000th of a second is nothing basically.
34:58Ah, yeah, but it's the difference between P1 and P2. It's not nothing.
35:03And a lot of frustration. Uh, no, no, but it is like it is that, uh,
35:08congratulations to Lando first. He did a very good lap. Uh, we struggled to improve in the last
35:14attempt. The three or four cars on track like the first group struggled a lot. Uh, well,
35:21now let's be focused on tomorrow and the race. It's a long stint until turn one and we'll see.
35:27Yeah. It's a weird thing about that. Nobody improving at the end. Any ideas, the guys have
35:31any idea? I don't know what's happened with Russell because that, uh, he was top on track and, uh,
35:36something was, uh, under the car. I don't know if it was water leak. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know
35:41if he spread water at the beginning of the lap or what, but, uh, the first four or five cars,
35:46they were struggling a lot. Okay. Yeah, maybe. Um, right. So, uh, there is this investigation
35:51on blocking Piastri. I think you've seen it. Any thoughts on, uh, whether there's a way out of it,
35:57maybe a penalty? This, I will let the steward decide, but, uh, we told him, but, uh, far too late.
36:04And,
36:05uh, if there is a mistake, it's a mistake. Okay. But anyway, bigger picture, the car is purely,
36:09you know, on long runs and indeed on short runs. I know the differences are small. I know what you've
36:13said about Lando. McLaren think you're still strongest for the race win. Uh, do you see?
36:18Well, we'll see tomorrow. Uh, make no sense to make prediction and, uh, today, but, uh, Lando had a
36:24strong pace also this morning that he was there all the, all the stint in quality. It will be a
36:30fight
36:30tomorrow. Thank you, Fred. Well, it was agonizing the close to what would have been an incredible
36:37tenth ball here. Uh, I don't know, just a hundredth bit of track evolution for Lando,
36:43maybe helped him to it. What do you think? I think he did a great job. In terms of the
36:50job
36:50you did, are you satisfied with how you managed? Of course not, no, but I didn't go quicker in
36:54the last lap. I was good through the, through the session. Um, I think we've done a good job this
37:00weekend, uh, but, uh, I've got to go and see the shoes in a minute, so. I heard you say
37:06it would
37:07be a tough day still tomorrow. I mean, you're always in it to win it, but what do you think
37:11are the particular challenges in the rest? I mean, it's just, it's all dependent on
37:16the shoes, so we'll see what, uh, happens in the next half an hour, but always think of the worst.
37:25And, um, so tomorrow might be damage limitations. He's clearly very down about it. I mean,
37:32obviously he doesn't know his fake just yet. He must be encouraged by the fact that the last five
37:37Grand Prix here haven't been won by Pulitzer, which is kind of counterintuitive to me, given
37:42the, the nature of the lack of overtaking at this track. Yeah. I mean, there are many and varied
37:47reasons for that, of course. And also Kimi Antonelli has been called to the stewards for the yellow flag
37:52incident officially now. Um, so Lewis is right. It's the next half an hour to an hour that matters
37:58in that respect, but it's so close at the front. I say track position means everything and a decent
38:04run. It's a long run. It's a pretty short pit straight, but with a very long run to the first
38:09corner, ironically, because they start so, uh, so early on in that pit straight. Um, we'll, we'll see.
38:15The grid's going to move about a little bit. Yeah. And George Russell, we're hearing his engine is
38:20cracked and, uh, the water leak. So we'll have to take a new power unit. Okay. So what does that
38:25mean for him? I mean, in terms of the race and again, another reliability, whoa, it's a, it's a
38:31concern. Uh, it is. I mean, it might be a positive thing if there has been any concern with that
38:36power
38:37unit coming up into this point, obviously they don't know that they thought they found the software
38:40gremlin, um, coming into the weekend. But then I think Kimi did an engine as well earlier in the year.
38:46So they're kind of neutral on the fact that at some point in the year, they'll both have to take
38:49a
38:49penalty. Um, obviously George doesn't want to take a penalty here because we know how important
38:53track position is. So I don't think he does need to, but maybe a fresh engine might help him tomorrow.
38:57When I used to first sell cars a lot, very long time ago, we'd put some rad weld in or
39:01some sawdust
39:02and that fit. I don't think it's going to work for him, is it? I think that's great.
39:05I think you suggest that. Some quality sawdust.
39:10Time for a break now, after which we will hear from Max Verstappen, who had a spin
39:15at the end of Q3 there, managed to qualify P6 though, for tomorrow's race. We'll hear from the red
39:21ball driver very soon.
39:35Welcome back to the Hungara ring where Max Verstappen and Isaac Hadjar qualified sixth
39:39and eighth today. Let's hear from the red ball camp now.
39:43Well, Max, obviously you're pushing absolutely to the limit there. Just not the grip ultimately in the
39:49car around here. Yeah, I mean, my whole weekend has been bad, but in general, the car in qualifying
39:55was really bad. Also, for whatever reason, again, we're picking up aerodynamic losses. And yeah,
40:01for me, the car on entry is everywhere. It's completely sideways everywhere. So you cannot,
40:06you cannot rely at all on the, on the rear. When you try to balance it out with the front,
40:11you start understeering. And now in qualifying from FP3 already, we started having issues that,
40:16uh, yeah, we're a bit out of our, out of our control.
40:19Yeah. And in terms of, of tomorrow, obviously, um, difficult to make places here. Do you think
40:24there'll be any kind of strategic variation? Will you try and do something different maybe on that side?
40:30Um, I mean, first we need to, uh, understand our problems because we have so many unexplainable
40:37issues that arise all the time, um, that, uh, we need to fix that first before you even start thinking
40:42about having just, uh, a normal qualifying race or whatever. Thank you.
40:50Max talked about difficult aerodynamics, loss of aerodynamic performance. It's unusual to see
40:57both Red Bulls spin it in a circumstance like that. So did, did strange things happen with the car today?
41:05I don't know. I, I wouldn't say the car was worse than usual. I mean, I think we've had a
41:12car that's
41:12been very difficult before and performance wise, it was definitely more fighting towards the front.
41:20I think this weekend we're back to, you know, fourth fastest car. It's really like, yeah, not very
41:26pleasant. Uh, we keep changing stuff on the car. It doesn't really seem to make a difference. So
41:34it's like reaching the limit, uh, of the package. What about tomorrow? Um, are we thinking a few
41:41pit stops in this race? Could a lot yet happen? Are there opportunities to capitalize on?
41:46I don't know. Whatever they do ahead, I do the opposite. So
41:50it's the only way I can have nothing to do. I'm starting eighth. I'm sure you're going to finish
41:55eighth if I don't do anything. So I want to move forward and I need to try something. Thank you.
42:03Nothing like a little headbutt of the microphone to vent your emotions. They don't seem happy with
42:07the car though, do they? Particularly Max. This is the eighth time this season he'll start outside the
42:13top four. He's not happy at all, is he? Inconsistency and everything, you know, and he clearly doesn't
42:21trust the car. He doesn't know what it's going to do next. And it's very hard to navigate your way
42:25through that on an all out qualifying lap. So, uh, that's as unhappy as I've heard Max for a while,
42:31actually. It really is. And it's a damning reflection from a four-time world champion.
42:35How long will he stick around if this doesn't change? Um, well, that's, uh, I guess the question
42:41on everyone's mind because everyone would take Max if they could, but I think it was interesting just
42:45to kind of go back to obviously Max was negative, but also Isaac was as well. And something Isaac said
42:50about reaching the limit of the package. And to me, that sounds like it doesn't matter what setup
42:56changes they make of that car. They've got to the absolute potential of, or this is what they feel,
43:00they've got to the potential of where the car is at the moment. And so that's, I guess, the frustration
43:04of we're in this development race now. They need to keep bringing developments or otherwise they're just
43:09going to stay still or everyone else is going to overtake them and they're going to go backwards.
43:12So I think that's where the frustration is coming from. We've seen in previous years where they
43:16can throw set up changes. They can do a lot to transform their weekend here. It feels like nothing
43:22they do seems to be working. Okay. Let's hear from their sister team now, Arvid Libbad, qualifying
43:27ninth. Let's get his reflections on his performance. I think I really stepped up when I needed to. I'm happy.
43:32I'm really grateful to the mechanics for the work they did this morning to get me those two laps
43:36because they were really useful. And also to the engineers, you know, for, for giving me a good
43:40car with, with quite limited mileage. We made some changes overnight and we didn't really have time
43:45to verify them, but you know, they, they made really good decisions. And I think it's a third weekend
43:52in a row where we've worked really well as a group. And I'm just really happy and grateful to the
43:56job
43:56the guys are doing. Yeah. I heard that message to the mechanics. It made me think, are you
44:01learning how to exploit the resource of a Formula One team, which is a big deal at this level?
44:07Yeah, it's, uh, it's been probably the biggest thing I've been learning this year. Um, you know,
44:13I've come through the ranks quite quickly. Uh, I'm only 18, um, and it's been an interesting skill,
44:20you know, that I've been having to learn to try to motivate 35, 40 year olds to work for me.
44:25Um,
44:27but it has been important. And you know, I've been really understanding my guys on my side of the
44:31garage and we've been having a really good camaraderie recently. Um, yeah, just very happy,
44:38really enjoying working with everyone. And, um, definitely we're, we're in a good, good momentum
44:42at the moment. Go well. Thank you. Thank you. Well, his fourth consecutive Q3 appearance,
44:47and I just sense that he's got such a calm nature about him. He is still only 18, nearly 19,
44:54but he's looking like a leader already. I'm talking to the team earlier. The mood on their side is so
45:00much more positive than the other side of hospitality with Red Bull. And that's kind of crazy.
45:04That's a really together team. Alan Permain and everyone there doing a tremendous job in senior
45:09management, the team, the drivers are working well together. Two great drivers in Limblad and Lawson,
45:15you know, and he missed most, pretty much all of the final practice session and still he dialed in.
45:21And that's really hard to do, especially when you're a rookie, a rookie teenager. So they're probably
45:27actually one of the most impressive things I've seen him do so far in formula one to keep your head
45:32through that. He really is taking everything in his drive. We heard him on team radio, actually,
45:37didn't we, saying we're really competitive, genuinely competitive. And it feels like they
45:43can build a build. They probably don't want a summer break, do they? They probably want to just keep
45:46racing, keep building. So it depends how you're doing, isn't it? If you're doing well, you want
45:50the momentum. But yeah, they have a really nice, stable car, clearly stable setup, and they're always
45:56able to get the maximum, the potential out of it. And I think that makes a big difference. And
45:59the environment within that team, I think, as Martin said, it feels like they're young and they're used
46:05to dealing with younger people. And that just allows a slightly softer landing for them to come
46:09in, thrive. And yeah, P7 is an incredible result for Arvid. And thriving, they are okay. We are hoping
46:16to hear from our poll sitter very shortly, just 12 thousandths of a second ahead of Lewis Hamilton,
46:22who is going to see the stewards. So we will know very soon what is going to happen to him.
46:28What do you expect? Replace penalty, Martin? Yeah, I do, sadly, because that was impeding.
46:36And it doesn't really matter about your laps. It's the other person's lap. And if you don't have those
46:42rules, you would get out onto the racetrack and get in everybody's way. There has to be,
46:48it needs to be a good, clean, fair fight. There's nothing intentional,
46:53it's just, but that doesn't matter. But let's see what the... It's worth just noting that he might
46:58not have been actually told about Oscar, in which case, although he will get the penalty,
47:02it goes more on the team than him. But we need to check if he was told or not.
47:06The fact is, the penalty will stick for him and massively impacts his race. Okay,
47:10let's hear from our poll sitter now, Lando Norris. Lando, many, many congratulations. We've talked
47:16about how this is a driver's track. So does it give a bit of extra satisfaction to take Paul like
47:21that,
47:21the way you did? I mean, I don't care if it's a driver's track or not, just Paul's, Paul's Paul.
47:27So
47:28I'm happy that we're back on top. Certainly my laps are very good. It's certainly a track where you need
47:33good confidence, a good rhythm, a good feeling in the car, because you don't have time to kind of
47:38chill and relax on a straight and rethink about things, just straight from one corner into another.
47:42And I've always liked this track. I've always performed well here.
47:47But not possible without a good car. You're never going to be on Paul without a quick car. And
47:52I felt good with the car all weekend. We've certainly been able to maximize more and more
47:56the package and the upgrades that we brought. And it's nice to see that it certainly helped us get
48:02a good result today. So plenty of positives for the team. Positives for me, because I felt still very
48:07confident and I felt like I could always extract good pace from it when I wanted to, when I knew
48:12where and how to go quicker every single lap. And that's the feeling I want inside the car.
48:16I know you think you're driving better than you were last year. In terms of the race, it's not easy
48:22to overtake here. You're in good position. What are the chief challenges to converting this for victory?
48:28I mean, you still need good pace, good time management, a good start, of course.
48:35Otherwise, you kind of learn on the go at times. I mean, we have to prepare well and we have
48:40very,
48:40very tough competition. You know, I think you've got the Mercedes and the Ferrari.
48:44Their race pace yesterday looked very, very good. And the long run pace looked very strong.
48:48They've been strong all year. We're still kind of in new man's land in terms of it's our first time
48:53we're at the very front. So we'll see what we can learn on the go and how we can adapt.
48:58I expect a
48:58very, very tough race, honestly, but it's not impossible. So go well. Thank you. 17th career
49:05poll for Lando Norris. We're just walking through the paddock now and he's got this swarm of people
49:11around him, hasn't he? It's kind of crazy. I mean, it's what you'd expect from a world champion,
49:15but it must be incredibly positive for the team to know that these upgrades that they're putting on
49:22are making a difference. Absolutely. We got used to that in the ground effect era when
49:25McLaren had won the construction championship the last two years, of course, where the correlation
49:30between what they thought they were designing and bringing to the race building, bringing to the
49:35racetrack and it worked, it's doing it again. So this is super news for McLaren this weekend,
49:40that the new parts. Now it's a rather unusual, quirky racetrack, but, you know, if they're getting
49:46correlation between all of the tools and the stopwatch, great news. OK, it might not be
49:52Lewis alongside him on the front row. It may be Charles, fast starting Ferrari. Is it about the
49:57start tomorrow? A lot will be about the start. I think whoever gets off the line well, obviously,
50:02the first corner, the sequence of the first few corners here is quite nice in terms of promoting
50:07a bit of action and overtaking. So if Lando with his attitude, I think he's got not so much to
50:12lose.
50:12I think he's got to obviously he will be going for it. But championships wise, he's not got to worry
50:17as much. And I think he can get his elbows out and get racing. And if he can hold off,
50:21I think,
50:21on the first lap, we're not too sure how it's going to work as much with the deployment here
50:25in terms of the racing with the overtake mode. But I would imagine he'll be in a pretty strong
50:28position to to hold them off for potentially the race. How much does it matter for the team to really
50:34kickstart their season? There's 1,200 people there or something of super competitive people.
50:40Yeah, of course, it does. They want to win every race. They want to win every championship. So
50:45and to go into the summer break, knowing you've had a step forward, this is a big,
50:49this is an important weekend for McLaren. And I feel sorry for Oscar, actually, because I think
50:53he'd have been right in there, too. I mean, obviously, today's a bit different. We talked about his season
50:57so far. He needs to really kickstart this as well. Again, probably doesn't want a summer break,
51:03probably wants to just get cracking. Yeah, Andrea Stella said these cars earlier on in our show,
51:09these cars have got a lot less downforce. They slide around, lower grip, and that in the past
51:16has been a small Achilles heel for Oscar. And maybe that's showing up this season.
51:20OK, so who's your money on for the win, then? Let's get a name from both of you.
51:24I think Lewis has a good shot tomorrow. It depends on where he starts. If he's starting second,
51:27I think Lewis has a good shot. If not, then Lando. Lando. OK, well, there you have it.
51:33It is Lando Norris who has put it on pole here in Hungary, the first pole of his 2026 season,
51:41the 17th of his career. Can he convert it to a first win in 2026? We haven't got long to
51:49find out.
51:50Join us tomorrow at 12.30 for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
51:53We haven't got long to find out. We haven't got long to find out.