Defending champ Lando Norris clinches pole at Hungary

McLaren’s Lando Norris en route to clinching pole on Saturday. Pic/AFP

World champion Lando Norris of McLaren narrowly outpaced Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton to seize his first pole position of the year on Saturday with a flawless lap in the final seconds of qualifying for this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.

The 26-year-old Briton clocked a best lap of one minute and 17.207 seconds to wreck Hamilton's bid for an unprecedented 10th pole at the same track by just 0.012 seconds with Charles Leclerc qualifying third in the second Ferrari.

World championship leader Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes was fourth, 0.260 seconds adrift, ahead of Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren and four-time champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull.

"I am very happy to be back on top. It was a tough session and these guys [Ferrari] were very quick. It's been tough all weekend, but we have been quick and our upgrades have helped - it's so nice to be on pole especially at this track," said Norris. Meanwhile, seven-time world champion Hamilton lamented the ‘lack of grip' towards the end of the session.

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