The McLarens are starting to pull away from the pack but max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton are battling behind for that final podium place.

Hamilton is close to the Red Bull but the Dutchman is shutting the down at every available spot.

George Russell has jumped another place to P17, but it's a long way back for the Mercedes man.

Image source, Getty Images

That was a great start by Oscar Piastri and now the Australian is leading this race from team-mate Lando Norris by 0.710 seconds.

Lewis Hamilton is up to fourth but Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc also lost places off the line. The Monegasque was overtaken by a gaggle of cars and is now in fifth.

George Russell is now 18th after what appears to have been anti-stall at lights out.

Russell: "What happened there?

Engineer: "Anti-stall"

Image source, Getty Images

Off we go in Hungary!

Charles Leclerc has been overtaken by Oscar Piastri already! The Australian is on the charge and now he sees team-mate and polesitter Lando Norris in his sights - and he's got him!

Piastri leads, Norris second and Max Verstappen third.

George Russell has tumbled right down the order with that new power unit and now the Briton is running in 20th place.

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Live at the Hungaroring

The start is going to be crucial and to add to that as well, we have seen a lot of drivers locking up going into Turn One, more so in the past years. It has been resurfaced but there is a huge set of bumps going into Turn One. Watch out for the lock-ups, someone is going to have a lock-up.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at the Hungaroring

It is worrying for McLaren because it could give Charles Leclerc a slingshot past Norris in the start and the Ferraris are quicker any way. It is going to change strategy. The soft tyres will go off earlier than the mediums. When Ferrari pit, that might mean McLaren want to cover them and pit early and get track position but that might make them vulnerable to the cars behind.

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Live at the Hungaroring

Everyone in the top 10 is on a medium set of tyres. However, the two Ferrari cars of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have opted to go on the soft tyres. I know Hamilton, the only driver in the top 10 to have a brand new set of soft tyres. That is going to give you extra purchase of tyre off the grid.

Lando Norris will lead us off on a set of medium tyres but the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc in P2 and Lewis Hamilton in fifth with that three-place grid penalty have opted for the soft compound to start with.

Leclec's softs, however, are a used set, while Hamilton is on brand new rubber.

The rest of the top 10 have joined world champion Norris on mediums, with the Aston Martin pair and Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto also on the softs.

BBC Radio 5 Live

1995 Canadian Grand Prix winner and former Ferrari driver Jean Alesi, speaking to Jennie Gow: "It is always very emotional to be on the F1 grid, to see the champions, the cars. Between the two McLarens and Ferrari, I think is the best spot I have found.

"I am a Ferrari fan. Five years racing for Ferrari but yesterday in qualifying, the pole man, Lando did a fantastic job, it looks like the car is back on the top and it is going to be an interesting grand prix."

We have been asking you to cast your votes on who you believe will win in Budapest. The poll is now closed and here are the results.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton has received the majority of votes, with 41% of you believing he will finish at the top of the podium from fifth on the grid.

Lando Norris is second in the votes tally, 21% of you believe the McLaren driver can convert pole position to a race win.

Charles Leclerc, second on the grid, has been given 20% of the votes for his chance to win the race in the Ferrari.

Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, starting seventh, got 10% of votes, Red Bull's Max Verstappen 5%, McLaren's Oscar Piastri 2% and George Russell 1%.

Image source, Getty Images

Mercedes have been out in front since race one of the campaign and as we prepare for a final grand prix before the late July-August shutdown, the Silver Arrows are 73 points ahead of second-placed Ferrari at the top of the constructors' championship.

In the midfield scrap, Alpine and Racing Bulls can't be separated as both teams sit level on 61 points following last weekend's Belgian Grand Prix. British rookie Arvid Lindblad is carrying the hopes of Racing Bulls today after qualifying ninth in Hungary.

Image source, Getty Images

The summer break is on the horizon, so who is going to head off on holiday with a welcome boost to their championship credentials?

Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli's lead has fluctuated over the past few races, but after a sixth win of the campaign in Belgium last time out, the teenager is 45 points clear of second-placed Lewis Hamilton before today's Hungarian Grand Prix.

But with that three-place grid drop for a yellow-flag of infringement, will he be able to extend his advantage at the top of the drivers' standings after round 11?

George Russell in third has work to do to make up a 50-point deficit to his younger team-mate but the gap of five points is a lot smaller to Hamilton.

Max Verstappen is one point away from McLaren's Oscar Piastri after 10 rounds of racing, while the likes of Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson in ninth and 10th will want to end the first half of the season on high.

Ian Fergusson
BBC weather forecaster

Air temperature is 30.5C, track 52.7C and Heat Index 28.8C. Wind is mostly from S to SSW, with recent gusts to 19mph.

Dry; risk of showers will increase post-race/this evening.

FIA official risk of rain (later in the race) is 20%

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at the Hungaroring

Image source, Pirelli 2026

Can Lando Norris hang on at the front, after his first pole position of the year, to take his maiden victory as world champion?

A lot may depend on the start, and whether he can hold back Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, for overtaking is expected to be especially difficult around the Hungaroring this year.

Although F1 2026 has seen the introduction of “yo-yo racing”, this is not a track that creates a paucity of energy, so that is not expected to feature, and the ‘overtake’ mode is less powerful than the DRS that was in use until last year.

Norris has been given help by three-place penalties for both Lewis Hamilton, who has been the quicker Ferrari driver this weekend, and Kimi Antonelli, but Leclerc will still be hard to beat if he gets in front on the first lap.

Hungary has traditionally been on the cusp between a one-and two-stop race, and that looks the same this year, with the medium and hard the favoured tyres. Indeed, Norris himself switched to a one-stop to claim an unlikely victory after falling to fifth place early in last year’s race.

The track, relaid in parts, has been breaking up all weekend, leading to an unusually high number of mistakes, owing to the unpredictable and reduced grip. Race pace looks close between Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes.

A pit stop costs 20.5 seconds or so under green-flag conditions, 11.5 under safety car.

Image source, Getty Images

Sunday is a special one for Alex Albon, as the 30-year-old becomes the first Williams driver to reach 100 race starts for the team this weekend. Albon joined Williams in 2022 and he finished eighth in the drivers' championship last season.

Sadly for Albon, he's not starting near the points places in Hungary, as he was eliminated in the first part of qualifying on Saturday in P19. "We expected a tough weekend, but the car felt very different from yesterday and we're still struggling to pinpoint the reason for these inconsistencies between sessions," he said.

Albon's team-mate Carlos Sainz also fell at the first hurdle in qualifying in P18, leading Williams boss James Vowles to get on the radio and tell his drivers it's definitely the car, not them.

Image source, Getty Images

It may seem funny to see crew members in the garage celebrating a Q2 appearance but when you've had the season Aston Matin have had, it makes perfect sense.

With a new-look car at the Hungaroring, Fernando Alonso successfully made it out of Q1 for the first time this year. The two-time world champion will start 16th on today's grid - a big step forward after months of disappointment.

"No one should doubt Adrian Newey or the potential we have in Silverstone," said Alonso, who turns 45 next Wednesday.

"It is a matter of time before we have the best chassis and it is a matter of time before Honda have the best engine in F1. It is a question of when."

Jennie Gow
F1 pit-lane reporter at the Hungaroring

I'm just stood in front of Lando Norris' papaya-coloured number one car. For the first time he is on pole since he won a world championship, for the first time this year.

A couple of metres from me is the Hungarian Grand Prix trophy, looking resplendent. Not glinting in the sunshine, because this half of the track is in the shade but the other half of the track is in the sunshine.

Image source, Getty Images

This is what every driver wants to lift on the podium in Hungary today. Lando Norris has history with this trophy, so getting his hands on it as race winner this year - and keeping it in one piece - will be high on the to-do list.

One late change to the grid. Sergio Perez, who was due to line up P22, will be starting from the pit lane now because Cadillac have made a few set-up changes to his car.

Time for the national anthem.

Image source, Getty Images

Red Bull looked relatively strong in Friday practice as four-time world champion Max Verstappen finished second and fourth on the timesheets. But fast forward 24 hours and the Dutchman said the car "was just degrading" in qualifying, adding: "We don't have tyre deg, we have car deg."

Verstappen, who was 0.518 seconds off Lando Norris' pole lap, explained every lap "was worse and worse" during yesterday's session and the car suddenly oversteering. "I really can’t make anything out of it," said Verstappen, "it’s just really, really tough."

Verstappen's team-mate Isack Hadjar, who has been vocal on the team radio about the issues with his car, simply said after qualifying in eighth: "It’s been very annoying the whole weekend."

Red Bull's Max Verstappen, speaking during the drivers' parade: "[It's a] tough long race but we'll see what we can do. Hopefully the car is a bit more together now.

"Let's see I don't really know where we stand or how competitive we can be. I'm starting a bit further ahead because of penalties. Hopefully we get positively surprised."