Charles Leclerc was left distinctly flabbergasted by his own run to a "most surprising" Formula 1 pole at the Hungarian Grand Prix, having claimed that qualifying had felt "horrible" until he'd managed to reach Q3.

“What?!” Leclerc replied to his race engineer, Bryan Bozzi, after being told the result. He laughed to himself afterwards: “Mamma mia. My God!” The bemusement initially hidden by Leclerc’s helmet remained etched on his face after he hopped out of his car and celebrated with his team.

Piastri, who won last time out in Spa to extend his lead at the top of the drivers’ standings to 16 points, highlighted the change of conditions hampering the McLarens during the latter stages of qualifying.