Lewis Hamilton will start from the front in Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix after securing his first pole position since 2021.
The Mercedes seven-time world champion ended his long barren spell to claim pole for a record ninth time at the Hungaroring.
The 38-year-old has again endured a difficult campaign that has been totally dominated by Max Verstappen and Red Bull.
But Hamilton secured Pole on Saturday – his first since Saudi Arabia in the penalutimate race of the 2021 season – finishing just 0.003 seconds ahead of runaway championship leader Verstappen in second with the very final lap of the session.
The McLaren pair of Lando Norris and his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri will be third and fourth on the grid, respectively, with Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc on the next row.
Zhou's teammate Valtteri Bottas was seventh fastest, ahead of Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso in eighth.
Hamilton has a superb record in Hungary, winning the race a record eight times, and will be aiming
Verstappen – who had taken pole in the last five races – leads the F1 drivers standings by 99 points ahead of his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, who qualified ninth.
“It's been a crazy year and a half,” said Hamilton after his record-extending 104th career pole, ending a run of 33 races without starting from the top slot.
“I have lost my voice from shouting so much in the car. We have been pushing so hard to finally get a pole and it just feels like the first time.
“I didn't expect to be fighting for pole so when I went into that final run I gave it everything.
“It has been massively challenging for everyone in the team. We have been focusing so much on trying to improve.
“We'll bring our A game as a team [to Sunday's race]. It's going to be difficult to fight these guys tomorrow. Lando has been doing a mega job; it's great to see McLaren up there battling. And Max, you know Max. He's always up there, doing his thing.”
For for the first time this season, all did not go to plan for Red Bull and Verstappen. “Not much happened, I’ve been struggling the whole weekend to find balance every session has been up and down, admitted the Dutchman.
“Today also in qualifying I found it really difficult in Q1, Q2 to feel confident to really attack corners.
“It was still second but I think we should be ahead with the car we have normally but so far this weekend we haven’t been on it.”
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SPEC SHEET
Display: 6.8" edge quad-HD dynamic Amoled 2X, Infinity-O, 3088 x 1440, 500ppi, HDR10 , 120Hz
Processor: 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/Exynos 2200, 8-core
Memory: 8/12GB RAM
Storage: 128/256/512GB/1TB
Platform: Android 12
Main camera: quad 12MP ultra-wide f/2.2, 108MP wide f/1.8, 10MP telephoto f/4.9, 10MP telephoto 2.4; Space Zoom up to 100x, auto HDR, expert RAW
Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, full-HD@60fps, HD@30fps, super slo-mo@960fps
Front camera: 40MP f/2.2
Battery: 5000mAh, fast wireless charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC
I/O: USB-C
SIM: single nano, or nano and SIM, nano and nano, eSIM/nano and nano
Colours: burgundy, green, phantom black, phantom white, graphite, sky blue, red
Price: Dh4,699 for 128GB, Dh5,099 for 256GB, Dh5,499 for 512GB; 1TB unavailable in the UAE
The Specs
Price, base Dh379,000
Engine 2.9-litre, twin-turbo V6
Gearbox eight-speed automatic
Power 503bhp
Torque 443Nm
On sale now
Concrete and Gold
Foo Fighters
RCA records
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Director: Jon Watts
Stars: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon
Rating:*****
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Specs – Taycan 4S
Engine: Electric
Transmission: 2-speed auto
Power: 571bhp
Torque: 650Nm
Price: Dh431,800
Specs – Panamera
Engine: 3-litre V6 with 100kW electric motor
Transmission: 2-speed auto
Power: 455bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: from Dh431,800
Profile box
Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Director: Peyton Reed
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas
Three stars
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SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations
Edited by Sarah Cleave, Comma Press
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
