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George Russell delivered a sensational final qualifying lap to secure his first-ever F1 pole position at the Hungaroring, while Max Verstappen hit technical trouble.
Mercedes driver George Russell stormed to his maiden F1 pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix with an incredible last-gasp qualifying effort.
Amid dry conditions, with the earlier rain passing, Russell produced a blistering time of 1:17.377 in the decisive Q3 phase to stun the two Ferrari drivers.
It marked a huge turnaround for Russell and Mercedes, who were left explaining a significant deficit to the front-runners after Friday's practice sessions.
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc had to settle for second and third respectively, having led after the first runs, with Lando Norris taking fourth for McLaren.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen encountered technical issues during the pole position shootout – reporting a loss of power over the radio – and placed only 10th.
Alpine pair Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso took fifth and sixth, with Russell's teammate, Lewis Hamilton, back in seventh after a DRS malfunction.
Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas and the other McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo also slotted ahead of Verstappen amid the Dutchman's problems.
Sergio Perez's difficult weekend continued as he dropped out in the Q2 phase – the sixth consecutive year this has happened to him at the Hungaroring.
Perez initially had a lap time deleted for exceeding track limits, only for the stewards to go back on their decision and reinstate the Red Bull driver's lap.
With that early effort leaving him on the brink, he was forced to head back out; however, he failed to improve and slipped to 11th, 0.071s off the cut.
In a radio message aired after the chequered flag in Q2, Perez was heard complaining about Kevin Magnussen's Haas getting in his way and costing him time.
Zhou Guanyu followed in 12th in the other Alfa Romeo, with Magnussen, Aston Martin's Lance Stroll and Mick Schumacher (Haas) the other eliminees.
AlphaTauri and Williams lost both their cars in Q1, alongside Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel, who was unable to bounce back from his crash in final practice.
Yuki Tsunoda narrowly missed out on a Q2 spot in 16th, followed by Alex Albon, who apologised to the Williams pit wall over the radio on his way back to the pits.
Vettel could only place 18th following some rapid repairs in the Aston Martin garage, with Pierre Gasly 19th due to losing his best lap time for exceeding track limits.
Having topped the wet FP3 session, Nicholas Latifi came back to earth with a bump when dry conditions returned, placing 20th and last.
Latifi mirrored Albon in apologising over the radio as he lamented making a mistake through the sweeping final corner on his last lap.
RacingNews365.com F1 journalists Dieter Rencken and Michael Butterworth discuss the key topics from the French Grand Prix, including Charles Leclerc dramatically spinning out of the lead.
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