Hamilton pips Verstappen for record pole in Hungary

:Lewis Hamilton said it felt like a first after beating Max Verstappen by the blink of an eye to take a record-extending 104th pole position of his Formula One career at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday.

The 38-year-old Briton was just 0.003 faster than Red Bull's championship leader for what was also a record ninth pole at the Hungaroring - the most by any driver in the history of the sport at one circuit.

It was Hamilton's first pole position since Saudi Arabia in December 2021 and ended his run of 33 races without starting from the top slot.

"It's been a crazy year and a half, so I've lost my voice from shouting so much," said the Briton, hoarse after giving his emotions full volume in the cockpit on his slowing down lap.

"I feel so grateful to be up here because the team have worked so hard. We've been pushing so hard over this time to finally get a pole and it just feels like the first time."

Verstappen had been on provisional pole after the first runs, with Hamilton second, but the double world champion could not improve on his one minute 16.612 seconds while the Mercedes driver used the soft tyres to maximum effect.

"I’ve been struggling the whole weekend to find a good balance. Every session has been up and down," said Verstappen, who had been chasing his sixth pole in a row.

"We’re still second, but I think we should be ahead with the car we have normally, but so far this weekend I think we haven’t been on it."

McLaren's Lando Norris qualified third with Australian rookie team mate Oscar Piastri alongside and Alfa Romeo's Guanyu Zhou fifth.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc will start sixth with Valtteri Bottas seventh for Alfa Romeo and Fernando Alonso eighth for Aston Martin.

Red Bull's Sergio Perez, second overall but 99