Mercedes will line up sixth and seventh for Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix after a difficult qualifying in Budapest. Kimi Antonelli set the fourth-fastest time but drops to seventh with a three-place grid penalty, while George Russell qualified seventh and moves up to sixth. Russell also takes his fourth power unit of the season after a water leak, though without a further penalty.
Mercedes leaves qualifying for the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix on the back foot, with both cars set to start outside the top five at a circuit where overtaking is notoriously hard. The team says it made progress in final practice and was briefly in the fight with McLaren and Ferrari, but could not carry that pace into qualifying, losing time mainly in the final sector.
A messy session for both cars
Antonelli had an early scare in Q2 when his first lap was deleted for exceeding track limits. He recovered to progress as the eighth-fastest, with Russell ninth. In the top-10 shootout, McLaren and Ferrari set the pace, and Mercedes could not consistently match them at the front.
Antonelli penalised for a yellow-flag lift
Antonelli qualified fourth on the road, but his final attempt was affected by yellow flags shown for Max Verstappen. After the session, the stewards judged that he had not lifted enough under the yellow and handed him a three-place grid penalty, dropping him to seventh.
“My final lap was strong, probably my best of the weekend so far. At the last corner I lifted off because of the yellow flag for Max, and lost nearly two tenths. Unfortunately, the stewards didn’t consider that enough,” Antonelli said, according to the team.
Russell takes a fourth power unit
Russell qualified seventh but was forced to stop immediately after the finish line with a loss of water pressure. The team’s subsequent checks led to a power unit change on his car — his fourth of the season. Because the swap replaces a damaged component with one of the same specification, Mercedes says Russell will not receive a grid penalty. Once other drivers’ penalties are taken into account, he moves up to sixth.
What it means for Sunday
Mercedes points to strong long-run pace on Friday as a reason for cautious optimism, but concedes that starting sixth and seventh at a track where passing is difficult makes a podium fight a tall order. The team also suggested its qualifying struggles owed more to getting the tyres into their working window in fluctuating track temperatures than to raw car performance.
“Qualifying today was rather disappointing. Both drivers were unlucky on their final laps: Kimi with the yellow flag and George with a water leak. Our pace probably wasn’t strong enough to fight for pole anyway,” said team principal Toto Wolff.
Grid: Mercedes for the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix
- George Russell: qualified 7th, starts 6th
- Kimi Antonelli: qualified 4th, starts 7th (three-place grid penalty)
- Russell’s car: new power unit fitted (fourth of the season, no penalty)
The Hungarian Grand Prix takes place on Sunday.
Source: media.mercedes-benz.com