ONBOARD: Ride with Russell as he claims his maiden pole position in Budapest
George Russell took the maiden pole position of his career in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, showing a hitherto unforeseen flash of pace in his Mercedes W13 to snag the team’s first pole of the season.
Carlos Sainz had initially looked like the driver most likely to start on P1 on Sunday, the Spaniard setting provisional pole before improving on his final run.
But then Russell set the timing screens alight to stop the clock with a 1m 17.377s, giving the Silver Arrows a massive boost ahead of the race – particularly after what he described as their worst Friday of the season.
Watch Russell take his maiden pole in the video above.
Next Up
Related Articles
Watch the Japanese GP highlights as Antonelli takes win
Verstappen admits Red Bull are in the ‘midfield battle’
What the teams said – Qualifying in Japan
Piastri gets your Driver of the Day vote in Japan
All the key moments from the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix
Wolff explains Russell’s ‘disadvantage’ in Japanese GP