Norris takes Hungary pole in McLaren front row lockout

BUDAPEST : Lando Norris secured pole with teammate Oscar Piastri close behind as McLaren ended a nearly 12-year wait for a front row lockout in a twice-halted Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday.

Red Bull's Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen qualified third in an eventful session that was red-flagged and then re-started with two minutes remaining when RB's Yuki Tsunoda crashed.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz joined an unhappy triple champion Verstappen, who leads Norris by 84 points in the standings after 12 of 24 races, on the second row at a circuit where overtaking can be tricky.

"We are in the best position for whatever the conditions throw at us so I'm looking forward to it," said Norris as he celebrated his third career pole and second in the last four races.

"Two cars at the front row, we can control it from there, so as long as we stay where we are we'll be happy."

The 24-year-old Briton has only one F1 win to his name so far, opening his account in Miami in May, and has yet to win from pole.

"Max is always the challenge and not only the challenge, Max is always the reference," said McLaren team boss Andrea Stella, sounding a note of caution.

"We will try our best and he (Verstappen) remains the favourite for tomorrow, but we will try to give it a go for the victory."

Norris set a fastest time of one minute 15.227 to secure the provisional pole, with Verstappen second and 0.328 slower.

Piastri then muscled his way onto the front row with his second flying lap, 0.022 slower than his teammate, before the red flags.

"It’s the first one-two in qualifying for McLaren for a very long time, so I’m very happy," said Piastri, whose team are only seven points behind Ferrari in the constructors' standings but 78 adrift