Lando Norris: The pole was a nice surprise

      Lando Norris won the qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix and will start from pole for the first time in his career as the reigning world champion.

      For his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, the final part of qualifying did not go well – on the decisive fast lap, Lewis Hamilton blocked the Australian in the first corner, so Oscar couldn't improve and remained in fifth place.

      Lando Norris (1st): "I'm really happy to win pole again. The qualifying was tough because the competitors were very fast, and the battle was very close throughout the weekend. However, from the first laps, I felt confident.

      We brought some updates, and it's hard to say what kind of improvement they provided in terms of lap time, but they definitely helped today. It's especially nice to win pole at a track where starting from the first position is very important.

      To be honest, I felt confident throughout the qualifying. However, the laps in the final weren't perfect, not even the last one. So, the first place was a pleasant surprise for me. We worked well, the car behaved excellently, and I felt very comfortable behind the wheel.

      In the last attempt, I took a bit more risk – some things worked out, some didn't, but the main thing is that it was enough. Huge thanks to the whole team for their hard work. Now all attention is focused on tomorrow's race.

      Of course, starting from pole gives an advantage, but there is still a very tough race ahead. The competitors have been starting well all season and showing high speed. Additionally, in the first part of qualifying, Ferrari used Medium tires, so it will be interesting to see what compound they start the race on. They might have a certain advantage in that.

      Today we accomplished our task, and I'm satisfied with that. Now we need to prepare well for tomorrow."

      Oscar Piastri (5th): "Lewis just didn't look in the mirrors. The yellow flags had nothing to do with it, so the problem wasn't with them. It's frustrating because in the end, I still couldn't complete a fast lap, but the car was quick today. However, I had to find my rhythm with it all day, and that wasn't easy.

      Of course, that moment in the first corner didn't help, but the wind also changed significantly today compared to previous sessions, so in a way, I had to start all over again.

      Overall, I feel like I've been trying to understand the car's behavior all weekend. It seems to me that I could have used a few more practice sessions to finally sort out the settings, but that opportunity is no longer available."