Not even in their wildest dreams. And certainly not after the disappointment and embarrassment of six days ago at Spa. The current state of Formula 1 makes it impossible to predict where a team will finish on the grid. The Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying left Aston Martin as the second-best team on the grid. Fernando Alonso had the entire team garage and half the Hungaroring applauding when he took second place in his final Q3 attempt. He was just 83 thousandths of a second behind Oscar Piastri’s provisional pole position. The green car, at least over one lap, has improved greatly and is scaring the grid. The Spaniard was the best of the rest and will start fifth.
Aston Martin’s leap forward was confirmed by Lance Stroll, who was always among the front runners during qualifying and finished sixth, just a few thousandths behind the Spaniard. However, the surprise of the day was Charles Leclerc, who pulled a pole position out of his sleeve that no one understands. Not even himself. “What? Mamma mia,” he exclaimed when he was told he was first. Piastri, second, and Norris, third, bit the dust, with five cars in just one tenth of a second. Russell beat Alonso, who was +0.109 off pole. Stroll, sixth, Bortoleto, seventh, Verstappen, eighth, Lawson, ninth, and Hadjar, tenth, completed the top ten.
A few drops of rain fell on the Hungaroring in the early stages of Q2. The water was welcomed by everyone, most notably the slower cars, but least by Aston Martin, which flew through qualifying. Alonso’s first lap put him in third place (1:15.395), faster than the Mercedes, Verstappen, and the Ferraris. Only Norris and Piastri were able to beat the Spaniard. Stroll, incidentally, was fourth at one point, confirming Aston Martin’s improvement, at least over one lap. The Silverstone team decided to keep both drivers in the garage for their final attempt.
A totally correct decision, unprecedented this year. Thinking big. Aston was the best team in Q2 alongside McLaren. Norris, Piastri, Stroll, Russell, and Alonso made up the top five. Sainz was unable to sneak into the top ten because Williams is missing a couple of tenths this weekend and will start thirteenth. Ollie Bearman, Lewis Hamilton, Carlos Sainz, Franco Colapinto, and Kimi Antonelli were the drivers eliminated in Q2.
Alonso took the lead
Sainz did not have the best feeling when he took to the track. He locked up as soon as he left the garage and had to throw away his first attempt at a lap. From there, he improved and ended up making it through the first cut in eighth position, with his teammate last. Alonso, meanwhile, blew everyone away and surprised everyone. Q1 usually serves to show off Aston Martin, but this time the story had a different twist. The green car was so serious that it even led the timesheets.
The Asturian, with his first attempt, a 15:9, took the lead. It might have been enough, but they decided to go out early on his second and final attempt. Stroll was third and Alonso first. He was the fastest on the grid at that moment when he improved by seven tenths on his second lap. Impressive. He went through to Q2 in second place, just a tenth behind McLaren.
Liam Lawson’s 1:15:849 on the bell knocked Yuki Tsunoda out of Q1. Along with the Japanese driver, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg, and Alex Albon, who will start last, also fell at the first hurdle. It was a blow for the Williams team and for Gasly, who was beaten by Franco Colapinto, who made it through to Q2 for the fourth time this year.