F1 2026 Hungary GP LIVE: Qualifying stream, start time and schedule – UK Times

We’re five minutes from what feels like a very open qualifying session in Budapest!

Kimi Antonelli is the favourite but he’s not had it all his own way so far this weekend. Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris are right in the fight too!

And given overtaking is difficult around the Hungaroring, it’s an important session too!

They say seeing is believing. And seeing the leaderboard in qualifying last weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, specifically the initial phase, really did take some believing.

For a team whose underlying goal was to be a Formula One world championship contender in 2026, Aston Martin’s opening 10 races have been nothing short of a calamity. From “nerve damage” safety concerns at the season opener in Australia to countless power unit failures, Aston’s new partnership with Honda has been woeful. What’s more, they previously used Mercedes engines, by far and away the most powerful on the grid in the sport’s new electrical energy-focused era.

And in Q1 at the last race in Belgium, Aston drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were both more than two seconds slower than the next-slowest car, new team Cadillac, and more than four seconds off the frontrunners.

But this weekend, they have a big upgrade:

We know for sure that Antonelli will head into the summer break in front; but will he have an even bigger lead?

1. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 204 points

2. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – 159 points

3. George Russell (Mercedes) – 154 points

4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 126 points

5. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 103 points

6. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 92 points

7. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 91 points

8. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) – 60 points

9. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – 42 points

10. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) – 39 points

“The car looks better. Often, you’ve got speed not reliability or the other way around – but they’ve had neither. They have all the ingredients but if the upgrade isn’t stonking, something isn’t working.

“I think it will be 2027 before Honda and Aston Martin are back.”

Nine races in; 25 points behind. Not ideal, but eminently salvageable for George Russell, who has endured an arduous start to a campaign which had his name written all over a debut F1 world championship. Now, 10 races down, that deficit has doubled in one spin into the gravel to 50 points. Needless to say, this was not how the Briton envisaged the start of his 2026 season.

Whether it be ill-timed safety cars, a lack of confidence or now mechanical issues, Russell has encountered his fair share of problems as the campaign nears its halfway point. In Belgium, an engine starved of straight-line speed – in stark contrast to his teammate Kimi Antonelli – was the latest in an ever-growing list of mishaps.

And it stretched him to breaking point.

Piece after the Belgian GP below:

Lambiase confirmed in April that he will leave Red Bull and his role as Verstappen’s right-hand man for McLaren, joining the papaya as the chief racing officer no later than 2028.

Red Bull are now shuffling their cards behind the scenes as they prepare for a new era and it has been confirmed that Verstappen’s performance engineer Hart will take over Lambiase’s role – and will likely be in place for the start of the 2027 season.

From a lead of more than 100 points, Mercedes are getting pegged back in the constructors’ championship:

6. Racing Bulls – 61 points

10. Aston Martin – 1 point

“Mercedes are still the team to beat. They’ve won almost all the races, they’re quick in all circuits, fast in slow-speed circuits, the quickest in Monaco.

“You have to anticipate they could be quickest this weekend as well.”