Frustrated Lewis Hamilton is handed a three-place grid penalty in another blow to Ferrari star after he had pole position snatched away by British rival Lando Norris

Lewis Hamilton’s title hopes were rocked when he was demoted three places down the grid for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion will start fifth on Sunday, with his chief rival for the title Kimi Antonelli third. They were previously going to start second and fourth respectively.

Hamilton, who is 45 points back from Mercedes Antonelli, was penalised for inadvertently blocking McLaren’s Oscar Piastri during qualifying.

He had, at one stage, seemed to have taken pole. He pulled into parc ferme next to the marker with No 1 on it, but that honour was snatched from him by Lando Norris with a late and skilled ambush. And so Hamilton’s three-year wait for a pole start drags on. 

Norris was still out on track and piecing together his smooth assault on the top, a chance he was gifted by Hamilton being unable to improve on his first run that had temporarily put him first – the head shake.

Barely any driver was conjuring extra speed in the final stages, bar Norris, who pipped Hamilton by 0.012sec to claim the first pole of his title defence. The No 1 marker was moved by officialdom in front of the world champion’s McLaren. No 2 was placed by the red car.

Now that the stewards have intervened to bung him down to fifth, Hamilton’s chances of winning Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix have taken a dent. But not all hope is lost. , It is a track he loves and where he has prevailed a record eight times. His car is fastest, a point he believes he could have underlined other than for Ferrari’s wonks sending him out early.

Reigning champion Lando Norris roared through to claim his first pole of the year by 0.012s

‘We have been doing a great job all weekend,’ he said, slow to raise much cheer in the immediate aftermath. ‘I felt solid throughout qualifying and, for some reason, we went out first, which I don’t think was the right call.

‘And for some reason the grip wasn’t there on that last lap.

‘We’re obviously competitive but I think tomorrow is going to be a hard day.’

In a boost to the British veteran, who lies second in the drivers’ standings, 45 points behind Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, the Silver Arrows looked a shadow of their formerly dominant selves.

Indeed, this was the first time this campaign that neither of the Mercedes had set the qualifying pace. Instead, Hamilton’s team-mate Charles Leclerc was third fastest with Antonelli fourth. They have, of course, benefited from Hmailton’s grid penalty. 

George Russell, in the other Mercedes, was only seventh quickest, his championship dream increasingly bleak. Fifty points off the top, he had to abandon his car, a water leak having sprung his latest dose of bad luck.

Aston Martin showed a glimmer of hope in their long road back from a start to the season team principal Adrian Newey called a ‘complete nightmare’.

They brought 16 upgrades to Budapest. The rest of the grid have 21 between them, a measure of Aston’s kitchen-sink approach to finding a solution. It resulted in Fernando Alonso managing to break the team’s 2026 duck by progressing into Q2 and qualifying 16th. His team-mate Lance Stroll, however, was only 20th fastest, just ahead of the two Cadillacs.