Leclerc beats McLarens to take surprise pole for Hungarian GP

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Charles Leclerc snatched a surprise first pole position of the year for Ferrari at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday, beating both McLarens.

Leclerc punched the air in delight as he climbed out of the car after beating Oscar Piastri by 0.026 of a second and the other McLaren of Lando Norris by .041.

Leclerc had consistently been the best of the rest behind the McLarens in practice but remained well off Piastri and Norris’ pace.

That changed in qualifying, with the help of conditions which gradually got gloomier and windier, working against the McLarens. Norris and Piastri were each about half a second slower per lap in the final part of qualifying, compared to the second segment.

Still, pole came as a shock at a circuit which Leclerc had called "by far the worst track of the season for me" Thursday.

"What?" Leclerc exclaimed over the radio when he was told he'd qualified first.

"Honestly, I have no words. It's probably one of the best pole positions I've ever had because it’s the most unexpected," Leclerc added later.

Pole position is usually a big advantage in Hungary, where overtaking is difficult, but Norris noted the chance that rain could spring some surprises for Sunday’s race.

"I have no idea how it will go, but one thing for sure is that I will do absolutely everything in order to keep that first place," said Leclerc, who's on pole for the 27th time in F1 but doesn't have the best record converting those starts into wins. He’ll be seeking his ninth F1 victory Sunday.

It was a stark contrast with yet another frustrating day for Lewis Hamilton in the other Ferrari.

Hamilton has won the Hungarian Grand Prix a record eight times but qualified 12th as the seven-time champion’s troubles in his first season with Ferrari continued.

"Every time, every time," Hamilton told the team over the radio after he qualified outside the top 10 for the second straight race.

That came after Ferrari’s executive chairman John Elkann called it "a rough season" in comments Saturday on the F1 website, and defended Ferrari’s trust in team principal Fred Vasseur, whose contract extension was announced Thursday.

Ferrari hasn’t won a Grand Prix since Carlos Sainz, Jr.'s victory in Mexico in October, when the Spanish driver — now at Williams — also had the Italian team’s last pole.

Defending champion Max Verstappen was only eighth after struggling with the balance of his Red Bull, and his teammate Yuki Tsunoda was 16th. That piles more pressure on the Japanese driver, who hasn’t scored a point in six races.