Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli qualified P4 for the F1 2026 Hungarian GP, but climbed to P3 after Hamilton’s penalty. That was until he got a grid drop of his own for failing to slow sufficiently under a single yellow flag for Max Verstappen’s spin, meaning he starts 7th.
“The driver of Car 12 stated that on seeing the yellow flag and light panel, he lifted off the throttle earlier than his previous push lap. This was verified by the telemetry. However the reduction in speed occurred for a very short period, and in fact the car’s speed when passing the scene of the incident involving Car 3, was slightly higher than that on the previous push lap.
“The mini sector time was only 0.03 second slower than his best time for that mini sector, and whilst, because he had lifted 16 metres earlier, he was 14 km/h slower entering the yellow flag sector, but was 3 km/h faster when passing the incident site due to less application of the brakes entering the corner. The FIA representatives noted that the speed reduction in the mini sector was less than 1%.
“The Stewards considered this incident to be different to other incidents that have resulted in no further action, because unlike those cases, there was no significant speed delta through the mini sector compared to the driver’s previous fastest time under similar circumstances.”
Difficult qualifying
The current championship leader struggled through the session and was affected by the aforementioned yellow flag in Q3.
The young Italian missed out on FP1 on Friday as reserve driver Fred Vesti borrowed his W17. Later on that first day, Antonelli barely managed to finish P13 on FP2. While early on Saturday climbed back on top as he reached P3 in FP3.
On Qualifying, he scrapped for a P7 in Q1 as his first lap time was deleted for track limits on Turn 7. With 2 and a half minutes left on the clock, cars rolled out for a final lap, and Antonelli improved his time but was forced to slow down as Verstappen spun on track. Although the Red Bull driver smoothly avoided any accidents, yellow flags were pulled out for the last sector.
While he qualified P4 on track, Antonelli was set to gain one position afterwar. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton received a three-place grid penalty for unnecessarily impeding Oscar Piastri. However, he got his own drop in the end.
Antonelli discusses what-ifs after F1 2026 Hungarian GP Qualifying
After the session, Kimi Antonelli pondered honestly about what could have been. “I think looking at the lap, I got a gust of tailwind in nine, lost a tenth there, and then in the last corner from the previous laps there was a good tenth and a half because the lap before I got quite a few, you know, just didn’t maximise the grip.
“Also, the yellow flag came while I was entering the corner, so I did try my best to lift. I did lift, but also I gave up quite a bit of minimum speed compared to before, and it was a shame.
“I think P3 would have been for sure, but I don’t think pole position,” he admitted before Hamilton’s and his penalties were announced. “It would have been very close, probably half a tenth to Lando, but still not good enough for pole.
He explained: “I think we were going to be probably seven or eight hundredths shy. Which, you know, is still surprising, especially after where we were at the end of Q2.
“Obviously it was a shame, but these things happen.”
“Definitely puts you a little bit in the back foot,” says Antonelli on missing FP1
Antonelli also reflected on how it affected him to miss out on a free practice session. “Yeah, I mean, for sure. I’ve realised this year that especially with this car, it’s never the best to miss FP1 because you kind of get into the rhythm. And so for sure, you know, it definitely puts you a little bit in the back foot. Especially when there are challenging conditions like this weekend.”
In 2025, the mandatory FP1 running for rookie drivers was expanded. F1 now rules that all teams must allow a rookie to drive at least once in each of the cars. Meaning that they have to concede at least four FP1s throughout the year.
Since he has already lent his car during the Spanish GP and now at the Hungarian GP, Antonelli is not expected to do it again in 2026. “At least now they’re out of the way. So I don’t have to worry about that for the rest of the season,” he highlighted.
“But for sure, I feel like, you know, with maybe FP1 you can also extract maybe a little bit more from the car, also maybe set it up a bit differently.”
Still, the Mercedes driver pointed out: “But, you know, we just tried our best and I think as a team we did a good job and now looking forward to tomorrow because race pace looks to be good.”
Tyre grip and lack of traction at F1 2026 Hungarian GP Qualifying
After qualifying at the Hungaroring, Antonelli also discussed the struggles with the tyres he had already mentioned through the radio during the session. “I think we were just, you know, already in the warm-up we were going over the peak of the tyres. So just, you know, already from Turn 1 you could feel the grip was not there, and there was a lot of four-wheel sliding, especially in the last sector.
“Just really no traction, especially.” He concluded: “So that definitely, you know, first of all took away a bit of confidence. But as well, you know, we had to make a huge step into Q3, which is never ideal.”
Ferrari and McLaren upgrades and advantage
While Antonelli finished P4, teammate George Russell —who faced issues as he stopped his car on track by the end of Quali— fell behind in P7. Up ahead, McLaren’s Norris leads in P1, while both Ferraris qualified behind with Hamilton P2 (on track) and Leclerc P3.
On his rivals’ advantage as they arrive with upgrades, Antonelli said: “I mean, we expected it. Also because they all brought upgrades. Especially, you know, McLaren did a huge step with the new floor, also Ferrari did a huge step with the rear wing.
“We haven’t brought an upgrade for downforce in a long time, so we knew.”
He also admitted: “I think we kind of lost a little bit of ourselves in Q2. Especially, we were so out of the window with tyres, I feel, and that put us a little bit in the back foot. And, you know, having to make such a huge step in Q3 is never ideal. Because obviously the car changed quite a bit and, you know, it was not so easy to extract the maximum out of it.”
Still, the Mercedes driver looked at the positives: “We expected that we probably wouldn’t have been fastest. But I think we were still in the ballpark in Q3. We were in that last lap, we were there. So obviously it’s a shame to miss out, but I think we were still in the ballpark, which is still positive, considering everything.”
Antonelli: “This is going to be a development race”
Finally, Kimi Antonelli shared his outlook for Sunday’s race at the F1 2026 Hungarian GP after Qualifying.
“Yeah, I think our long run looks strong, definitely quite a bit stronger than single lap. I think this weekend we lacked more on single laps rather than race pace.
“But for sure, you know, this is going to be a development race. So, yeah, just we need to keep our heads down, because it’s going to be fighting all the way until the end.
“Hopefully tomorrow we can get a good start and then we’ll try to do our best to pull out something,” he concluded.
