Lando Norris expressed his delight at getting himself "back on top" after snatching pole for the Hungarian Grand Prix from Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton. 

Norris claimed his first grand prix pole position since being crowned the 2025 world champion at the Hungaroring on Saturday, setting a lap time 0.012 seconds faster than Hamilton. 

Hamilton appeared set to extend his record number of pole positions around the circuit to 10 after going a tenth clear of Norris in the first run of the final qualifying session. 

But Norris was able to deny the seven-time world champion a first pole since the same event in 2023, with the session ending in chaotic fashion after Max Verstappen spun out. 

Charles Leclerc will start in third for Sunday's race, while championship leader Kimi Antonelli took fourth. Norris' McLaren team-mate, Oscar Piastri, will line up in fifth place. 

Verstappen, George Russell, Isack Hadjar, Arvid Lindblad and Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top 10, with Norris ecstatic about what he achieved against the pacey Ferraris. 

"Very happy to be back on top," Norris said. "A tough qualifying session. These guys [Ferrari] were very quick.

"It's been tight the whole weekend, but we seemed quick from the first laps we did and we made a few upgrades.

"It's hard to know how much it helps in terms of lap time but it certainly helped today. Very happy to be back on top, especially at a track where you certainly want to be on pole."

The last two winners of the Hungarian Grand Prix have both driven for McLaren, with Piastri triumphing in 2024 before Norris claimed victory last year. 

McLaren last won three consecutive races at Hungaroring between 2007 and 2009, when Hamilton won twice while Heikki Kovalainen also picked up a race victory. 

However, pole position may not be the best place for Norris to start, given the recent race results in Budapest.

The last five winners of the race have all started from outside pole position, with the last driver to win at Hungaroring from pole position being Hamilton in 2020 for Mercedes. 

And Norris is anticipating a difficult race on Sunday, acknowledging the improvement of Ferrari, which has seen them win two of the last four races. 

"I'm in the best position for the start. But these guys [Ferrari] get good starts and have been fast all season," Norris added. 

"I'm expecting a tough race. It will be interesting to see what tyre they start on tomorrow.

"They may be in a slightly better position with some things but otherwise we did the job we had to do today, so I'm pleased with that and we will prepare in the best way possible."

Both Hamilton and Antonelli are at risk of grid penalties as they face post-session investigations for separate incidents. 

Hamilton potentially impeded Piastri, while Antonelli may not have sufficiently slowed as he approached yellow flags warning him of Verstappen's spin.