George Russell earns 1st career pole ahead of Hungarian GP

Mercedes' George Russell earned his first career pole, going fastest during Saturday's qualifying session ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring in Budapest.

Russell's fastest lap seemingly came out of nowhere at the last minute and prevented a front-row lockout for Ferrari led by Carlos Sainz. Sainz will still start alongside Russell, while Charles Leclerc went third fastest.

"I'm over the moon," Russell said. "Absolutely buzzing. The lap time kept on coming. I came across the line and saw we went P1, and that was an incredible feeling."

The young Brit downplayed the achievement over the team radio by saying, "No points for Saturday, let's get it done tomorrow."

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton ran into DRS problems during his final lap to halt a chance at a Mercedes front row. The fellow Brit still qualified seventh.

It's not only Russell's first career pole but the first of the 2022 season for the Silver Arrows. The last time Mercedes claimed the top spot in qualifying was Hamilton's pole position in Saudi Arabia last year.

The championship leaders at Red Bull struggled Saturday. Reigning champ and current leader Max Verstappen battled issues in the final session and wound up going slowest to qualify 10th. Sergio Perez couldn't make it out of Q2, qualifying 11th.

The Alpines continued their recent success in the midfield, with Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso qualifying fifth and sixth, respectively.

McLaren, battling adversity all year, also had a strong showing. Lando Norris led the way in fourth, joining Leclerc on the second row. Daniel Ricciardo made it into the final qualifying session and wound up ninth fastest.

Valtteri Bottas, who lost his Mercedes seat to Russell and now drives for Alfa Romeo, qualified eighth.