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."

Championship leader and Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, speaking during the drivers' parade: "Obviously, it's a pity to have lost those three places but it is what is. The most important [thing] is we try to maximise today's race. The pace is good, it's very wam today, a bit gusty, so it's going to be interesting to see.

"The race pace has been stronger than our single laps. There's a lot to play for and degradation is going to be big, so we try to do our best. But I'm really looking forward to it.

"Hopefully we can have a good race for the team, for myself and for the fans."

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at the Hungaroring

Image source, Getty Images

All the drivers were battling with a Hungaroring track surface that was breaking up, especially in the final two corners, where Lando Norris said it was especially difficult to judge the grip level.

Even before the incident with Max Verstappen, George Russell was afflicted on his final run by a water leak, which was spraying water on to his rear tyres.

Mercedes asked him to pull over immediately after crossing the line, and he parked at Turn One, in an attempt to avoid damaging the engine.

"We made progress with our pace from Friday to Saturday, but it wasn't enough to get ourselves in the fight for pole," said Russell. "There were clues as to why we were struggling more on the single lap yesterday as our race pace was strong."

BBC Sounds

Jennie Gow, Harry Benjamin, Alice Powell and Andrew Benson are in position and ready to take us through this 70-lap Hungarian Grand Prix.

There are a few ways you can tune in today, even if you need to go places this afternoon.

You can either click the 'listen live' tab at the top of the page, search for 5 Live on the BBC Sounds app or ask your smart speaker to "play 5 Live".

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, speaking during the drivers' parade: "We have a good car, the team have done a great job to continue to develop this car. It's an amazing track, it's very hot today so it's going to be a massive challenge. It's a new day and new opportunities. It's very difficult to overtake here so strategy is going to be difficult here, it's quite dusty today as well.

"Forgive me for my attitude after the race (qualifying). I'd done such a great session and I got the call right at the last minute so to know I was going to get a penalty was tough to swallow. It is what it is, we move forwards and I'll give everything for the team today."

Image source, Getty Images

What will Lewis Hamilton's strategy be today? His hopes of a ninth Hungarian Grand Prix victory have been dealt a blow with that three-place grid penalty, and now he'll be in recovery mode from P5 on a track were starting positions are key.

After he was told his fate, Hamilton took to Instagram and let out his frustrations, writing: "Sometimes you just can’t catch a break." He added it had been another weekend when he has been feeling great throughout all the sessions, "but then it just falls apart".

Hamilton continued, stating he tries to keep positive - "sport is about highs and lows" - but after three penalties in three weekends, "it’s becoming difficult to hang on to that postivity."

The 41-year-old was handed a five-second time penalty at Silverstone for a false start, plus a reprimand after the race for a yellow flag infringement, then last weekend in Belgium, he received another five-second penalty for causing a collision with Mercedes' George Russell on the opening lap.

"Still, I won’t let the setbacks take away from the progress we’ve been making as a team," Hamilton added. "With the pace we have, I’m hopeful we can get something out of the race."

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at the Hungaroring

Image source, Getty Images

Malaysia is to host a grand prix in October on behalf of Bahrain after the Gulf state's race was called off earlier this season as a result of the war in the Middle East.

The Sepang track near Kuala Lumpur is to hold a race that will be called the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia on 2-4 October, a week before the event in neighbouring Singapore.

A statement from F1 said that the arrangement meant F1 would "deliver 23 races for the 2026 season" and that "the rest of the schedule remains unchanged".

However, there remains uncertainty about the final two scheduled races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi because of the war between the US/Israel and Iran.

F1 is working on contingency plans for a race to replace Qatar and Abu Dhabi if they cannot take place because the war is still ongoing.

A decision on that does not have to be made until September but a number of alternatives are being considered.

If Qatar and Abu Dhabi cannot happen, the most likely track to host a race at the end of the season is Imola in Italy.

Portimao in Portugal and Istanbul Park in Turkey are also under consideration, but are significantly less likely.

Both tracks have construction work to complete before their official return to the calendar next year, and hosting a race in early December would significantly increase the difficulties in completing it.

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