David Malukas wasn’t upset despite being knocked from provisional pole at the very end of qualifying by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Palou, the reigning and four-time IndyCar champion, throttled to a two-lap average run of 174.353mph, dethroning Malukas’s 173.244mph outing and denying him a second career pole. Even though the two share the front row, the gap in qualifying was a sizable 0.3305s around the 1.25-mile egg-shaped oval.

For Malukas, who is in his first season driving for Team Penske, there was a genuine sense of calm after seeing the changes made from first practice (where he was sixth overall) elevate the performance.

“No, not disappointed,” said Malukas, 24. “I'm really happy with this crew. It was such a guessing game trying to figure out where this car needed to be. It's just the temperature change, everything was so drastic.

“Just seeing my time compared to teammates' (Scott McLaughlin, fifth; Josef Newgarden, eighth), (Kyle) Kirkwood going out, it almost seemed the track was getting a lot better. We were very fortunate being the last ones to go out. “I had a strong feeling we weren't going to get it there because Palou was going last. I was saying it earlier, no matter what, if you were to go right now, everyone is going to go quicker and quicker.

“I think for the situation to get P2 that was really good for us. A little unfortunate in the positioning, but overall the guys did a good job.” 

WWTR was the site when Malukas burst on the scene as an IndyCar Series rookie in 2022, finishing second between Newgarden and McLaughlin. The scenes after the race saw him raving in astonishment after battling with the likes of Team Penske while driving a car for Dale Coyne Racing.

Now, Malukas comes into statistically his best track, where he has scored two of his five career podiums, and behind the wheel of Penske’s #12 Chevrolet.

“No, it is very cool,” Malukas said. “It all goes full circle. I always think back to that interview, thinking back to that moment.

“I mean, it's a dream come true to be here. Super happy. We're starting in that P2 spot. We'll see what this race brings. Obviously it's an oval, yellows, all that stuff can happen. A little bit luck of the draw. 

“As long as we're in the right position, we have an opportunity for it.”

IndyCar at WWT Raceway starting lineup: Alex Palou claims fourth straight pole

Arrow McLaren appoints Ryan Hunter-Reay as new Sporting Director

Even after suffering a flat tire in practice, Denny Hamlin fought back in qualifying to secure pole position for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway.

Hamlin was the final driver on the track, and he denied home hero Carson Hocevar by just 0.018s with a pole lap of 36.901s.

This is Hamlin's 50th career pole, and his second of the 2026 season. Only six drivers besides Hamlin have ever scored at least 50 poles and 50 race wins, and it's an elite group that includes Richard Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Jeff Gordon, Darrell Waltrip, and Bobby Allison.

Watch: Hamlin explains why pole-winning car will start at rear

"They did a really great job, accounting for the damage on the bottom side," said Hamlin after his pole run. "They re-balanced it, and it felt like they did a really good job. It was a handful, it was all I wanted, certainly. Hats off to this whole Toyota team. That was surprising ... I just noticed that I was chattering all the tires, it felt like, in the corners. It was the limit, for sure."

Championship leader Tyler Reddick will start third, Ty Gibbs fourth, and Chase Briscoe. Four of the fastest five qualifiers were all Toyotas.

Chase Elliott will start sixth, Kyle Larson seventh, Christopher Bell eighth, William Byron ninth, and Erik Jones was impressive in tenth.

Qualifying recap

Berry spun exiting turn 4, reversed back to pits due to flat tires. Allmendinger had just started his qualifying run, so they needed to return to the pits to re-cool the No. 16 before giving it another attempt. Berry will start last on the grid after the spin, in P37.

After the first ten cars took a time, Bubba Wallace set the pace with a 37.133s lap, over three tenths clear of his closest challenger. 

The first driver to knock him off the top spot was Byron, the 15th driver to go out. He held P1 until his Hendrick Motorsports teammate dethroned him, with Larson becoming the first driver to reach into the 36-second bracket.

Gibbs then took the fight to the Hendrick duo, eclipsing Larson by just 0.014s. However, he did not stay there for long, with home hero Hocevar rocketing to the top with a 36.919s lap.

Reddick got very close, just 0.010s adrift of Hocevar's pole time. The Michigan native waited anxiously through the final group of cars, and was visibly disappointed when Hamlin knocked him off the top spot at the end of qualifying.

"It's a testament to these guys, they do a really good job," said Hocevar. "They're building fast race cars. Yeah, I would have loved to have gotten pole there, but third in the Truck race, second in Cup qualifying, so hopefully that's just a trend there. I would have loved to have that one ... I feel really good about our race car so starting up front is going to be super important, I know it's just qualifying, but damn, I didn't know I wanted it this much. It would mean a lot for so many reasons."

When asked if he felt bad for denying Hocevar at his home track, pole-sitter Hamlin said: "I remember Richmond, way back in '06 or '07, and trying to get a pole at my home track. I get it, I feel like that (a smidge) sorry for him."

Some notables that struggled in qualifying include all of Team Penske and Trackhouse Racing. The Penske cars qualified 18th with Joey Logano, 19th with Ryan Blaney, and 31st with Austin Cindric. It was even more dismal for Trackhouse, with Shane van Gisbergen leading the charge in 30th, Ross Chastain 32nd, and Connor Zilisch 34th. 

Watch: Hamlin snatches Michigan pole from Hocevar

NASCAR Cup Michigan Starting Lineup

Alex Palou was the last driver to go out, but was also the best after scorching to pole for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR).

The reigning and four-time IndyCar Series Champion, driving the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, stormed to the top spot in qualifying with a two-lap average of 174.353mph around the 1.25-mile egg-shaped oval. He dethroned Team Penske’s David Malukas by a full mph (173.244mph) to take his fourth consecutive pole. 

“It’s incredible,” said Palou, 29. “My car was on rails today. It was incredible. It’s a place that I struggle the most, so far. Hopefully, we can change that tomorrow. I knew this morning our car is super quick. The #10 Honda Honda had a lot of power, but I did not really expect to get the pole here today.. Yeah, just incredible. Super proud and can’t wait for tomorrow night.”

Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood qualified third, ahead of Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist and Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin finishing up the rest of the top five.

The rundown

With drivers going on in reverse championship order, rookie Mick Schumacher went out first and set the initial mark with a 170.290mph two-lap average in the #47 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) Honda. 

ECR’s Christian Rasmussen was the next to go out and ended up with a big lift on the exit of Turn 2 during his second lap before settling at 170.106mph avg. The likes of Sting Ray Robb (Juncos Hollinger Racing), rookie Caio Collet (AJ Foyt Racing), Romain Grosjean (Dale Coyne Racing), and Nolan Siegel (Arrow McLaren), Louis Foster (RLL)  were the next handful of drivers to go out, with Foster the only one to dethrone Schumacher with a run at 170.569mph avg. 

Andretti Global’s Will Power, IndyCar’s all-time pole leader, was the eighth driver to go out and ended up with a messy qualifying run at 169.670mph and slotted fifth of those to go out to that point. 

Rookie Dennis Hauger (Dale Coyne Racing) and Santino Ferrucci were next out, with the latter able to knock Foster off the top spot with a two-lap avg. of 170.988mph. 

Through 10, the running order was Ferrucci, Foster, Schumacher, Rasmussen, Collet, Power, Seigel, Grosjean, Hauger, and Robb. The next out was Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson, who delivered enough of a run to narrowly edge out Ferrucci with a two-lap avg. of 171.149mph. 

Alexander Rossi (ECR) dished out a stout performance and solidly went to the top after going 171.923mph two-lap avg. 

Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Rinus VeeKay, the only driver to crash in opening practice, posted the second-fastest two-lap pace of the 13 drivers to go out at 171.200mph. The #28 Andretti Global Honda of Marcus Ericsson knocked VeeKay down and slotted himself second after hitting a 171.384mph two-lap avg.

Six-time IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon, the 15th driver to go out, vaulted to the top courtesy of a two-lap avg. of 172.478mph with his #9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Meyer Shank Racing’s Marcus Armstong nearly left pit lane with a battery on the sidepod of his #66 Honda, but paused as a crew member grabbed it before he set off for a 172.483mph two-lap avg. to go top of the pylon. 

Graham Rahal (RLL) propelled to a two-lap avg. of 171.479mph to slot fourth. Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, a record five-time winner at WWTR, ended up third after a two-lap avg. of 172.415mph. 

McLaughlin, Newgarden’s teammate, was the 19th driver to go out on track and vaulted to the top with a run at 172.869mph avg. in Penske’s 2002 throwback livery on his #3 Chevrolet. 

Reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Rosenqvist pushed his #60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda to a strong two-lap avg. of 172.953mph and knocked off McLaughlin to provisionally go to the top. 

Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward, who was quickest in opening practice, struggled to put together a threatening performance, slotting sixth at 171.992mph two-lap avg. after bottoming out in Turns 3 and 4. The Mexican’s teammate, Christian Lundgaard, also had a lacking showing at 170.956mph two-lap avg. 

Malukas, a former runner-up at WWTR, enjoyed a first lap of 173.729mph before a 172.761mph to pull off an average of 173.244mph to take over the top spot. 

Andretti Global’s Kirkwood set sail with a two-lap avg. of 173.206mph, narrowly behind Malukas to slot second. 

Palou, the current points leader, was the last driver to go out, went faster with a two-lap avg. of 174.353mph to take the top spot.

Kaden Honeycutt did not appreciate Corey Heim throwing two blocks on him to win the Truck Series race at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday afternoon.

Honeycutt, driving the Tricon Garage No. 11 that Heim took to the championship last year and 23 victories across the past three seasons, made several runs at Heim but couldn’t find a path to the win.

On the final lap, Heim blocked low and then shaded right across Honeycutt’s nose, and just beat his teammate to the line. Honeycutt said that if it were any other truck than one owned by David Gilliland and Johnny Gray, it would have been a different result.

“I was there,” Honeycutt said. “So yeah, thank God it was a company truck. I definitely wouldn't have lifted in that situation. It just sucks. I felt like I've given so many away this year and I think that's what's angering me the most for sure. Just unfortunate.”

When asked in the winner’s press conference, Heim was short and blunt.

"Get thicker skin and deal with it,” Heim said. “That's my advice to him."

Honeycutt also felt like Heim should have drafted with him and pulled away from Carson Hocevar and the Front Row Motorsports cars and then raced it out amongst themselves.

“Yeah, he had no problem working with Bell in the second stage, pull away and then he gets to me and just drives right by me,” Honeycutt said. “So yeah, just definitely unfortunate, but it's a good race for our team. Good points ... I'm just frustrated. We just need to work together better. That's really, that's all there is to it.”

Heim wasn’t buying that either.

Corey Heim wins Michigan NASCAR Truck race in nail-biting finish

Two car chiefs ejected after multiple NASCAR Cup inspection failures at Michigan

“I thought we worked pretty well together to get a gap,” Heim said. “Me and Bell, in the first two stages, maybe just stage two, we worked really well together. We kind of talked pre-race, thought our trucks were good enough to link up and sort of just drive by guys. I thought our trucks just had the best center speed and the best handling on longer runs. So when me and Bell talked about it, we basically said, if we found each other, let's just stay in line and push each other and try to get clear of whoever's third on back. We were able to accomplish that and I lost him there in stage three.

“I don't know if he had a bad stop or what happened to him, but I was kind of depending on that to help us maintain the lead. In case guys were super aggressive and wanted to dice it up for the lead, but I thought us and the 11 worked pretty well together for the last five laps.”

Heim even when back and said if Honeycutt had wrecked him off the block, he would have understood it.

“But when it's the white flag, you got to do what you got to do at that point,” Heim said. “I mean, if he wrecked me by me blocking him, then that's my fault and that's fine. It is what it is. But no, I thought us in the 62 and us in the 11 worked really well together when we were trying to maintain the lead there.”

Two NASCAR Cup Series teams had a little trouble getting through inspection on Saturday, and so, the standard penalties have been applied.

26 of the 37 entries passed on their first attempt, while nine passed on their second attempt, but there were two that needed to go through the inspection process three times.

The No. 17 RFK Racing Ford of Chris Buescher, which entered this race eighth in the championship standings, failed twice before passing on the third attempt.

The No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet of J.J. Yeley -- the lone open entry in the field, also failed twice before passing on its third attempt. Michigan will be the part-time team's third Cup start of the 2026 season.

As a result of the inspection failures, RFK Racing car chief Josh Sisco and NY Racing team car chief Lee Leslie have been ejected from the track and can take no further part in the race weekend.

Additionally, both teams lose their pit selection, so regardless of qualifying result, Buescher and Yeley will get the final two pit stalls available after the rest of the field makes their selection for Sunday.

It's not uncommon for cars to fail pre-race inspection twice, and it's happened several times during the 2026 season. At Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March, four different car chiefs were ejected for inspection issues.

Should a team fail three times, it will result in a pass-through penalty during the race, but both Buesher and Yeley managed to avoid this.

NASCAR Cup Michigan starting lineup: Denny Hamlin snags pole from Carson Hocevar

Corey Heim wins Michigan NASCAR Truck race in nail-biting finish

'Get thicker skin and deal with it,' says Corey Heim in response to Kaden Honeycutt

How to watch NASCAR at Michigan: Weekend schedule, start time, TV

It was 'Heim Time' once again!

Corey Heim, who is set to go full-time Cup racing next year with 23XI Racing, won Saturday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Michigan International Speedway.

The 2025 NCTS champion now has 26 career wins, and three in just five starts this year.

There was just 0.065s between Heim and TRICON Toyota Kaden Honeycutt at the checkered flag.

Watch: Heim credits pushers after Michigan win

Just ahead of the leaders was Cleetus McFarland, and Heim used his draft to help hold a charging Honeycutt back in the run to the checkered flag. Cleetus finished on the lead lap in 25th, 12 positions higher than his last Truck start.

Behind Heim and Honeycutt, Carson Hocevar finished third, Layne Riggs fourth, and Chander Smith fifth. Christopher Bell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Connor Mosack, Jake Garcia, and Tyler Ankrum filled out the rest of the top ten.

Honeycutt wasn't thrilled with the way Heim raced him in the battle for the win, but Heim replied by saying that his teammate needs to 'get thicker skin and deal with it.'

Stages 1 and 2

The battle for the lead was constant as drivers maximized the draft, with Bell, Majeski, and Hocevar all taking turns out front early.

Both Daniel Hemric and Tanner Gray got into the wall in separate incidents and had to pit under green. The first caution was for Frankie Muniz and Kris Wright, who both spun after colliding in a three-wide battle for position

On the following restart, Bell shadowed Hocevar and pushed him ahead, helping both trucks to breakaway from the pack.

With five laps to go in the stage, the patient Bell finally made his move, and claimed the Stage 1 win over Hocevar, Honeycutt, C. Smith, Riggs, Heim, Eckes, Ruggiero, Garcia, and Chastain.

During the stage break, Gray jumped to the front with a two-tire call, but he was quickly dispatched. Bell, Heim, and Hocevar formed a three-truck breakaway, pulling away from the pack. Layne Riggs had to make an unscheduled pit stop, and fell off the lead lap.

Bell went on to win Stage 2 as well, beating Heim, Hocevar, Honeycutt, C. Smith, Eckes, Chastain, Ruggiero, Enfinger, and Majeski.

Stage 3

Hocevar was not out front, and Heim had a slow stop as they struggled on the left-side. Friesen was also caught speeding, dropping him out of the top ten.

The next caution was for Cleetus, who spun on his own right after cracking the top 20. There was another quick yellow after that, this time for Friesen getting turned on the backstretch.

Honeycutt briefly took control before Hocevar regained control, but the next caution wasn't far off. Majeski got pushed out of the groove and spun, backing it into the wall and destroying his truck.

The timing of this yellow were mixed up the strategy. Garcia and Dye stayed out, while several trucks opted for a fuel-only or two-tire stops.

It was a very chaotic restart, and it did not stay green for long. There was constant contact, ending with Cole Butcher and Spencer Boyd crashing hard after Butcher cut a tire down.

The race went back green, and Hocevar remained out front. It was a five-truck breakaway in the battle for the lead.

Heim surged from third to first, taking the lead with 15 laps to go. Radio chatter indicated that Hocevar allowed it to happen, as he was attempting to clean debris from the grille. 

Corey LaJoie had to make an unscheduled pit stop from inside the top ten, and he was the lead Ram driver at the time.

With 10 to go, it was the Tricon duo of Heim and Honeycutt vs. Hocevar in the battle for the win. Honeycutt eventually passed Honeycutt, and worked with his teammate to get away and make sure it was a Tricon win.

On the final lap, he looked both low and high, but Heim defended every move, narrowly holding him back as they drag-raced to the finish line.

Watch: Honeycutt hard on himself after runner-up finish

Michigan NASCAR Truck complete race results

George Russell's costly Canadian Grand Prix retirement, which knocked him 43 points back, showed he would have a Kimi Antonelli-sized problem to deal with this year. His fifth qualifying defeat to a high-flying Italian in Monaco further underlined that problem won't go away any time soon.

Russell had made a strong start to the 2026 Formula 1 season with a pole-to-flag victory in Melbourne, but a series of unfortunate events, from safety car timings to reliability problems, quickly shifted the momentum in the 2026 title race to Antonelli.

But beyond Russell's rotten luck in China, Japan and Canada, an equally – if not more – worrying trend has emerged in recent races. On low-energy circuits where tyre warm-up is a significant factor, Russell's butter-smooth driving style appears to be working against him in the 2026 car, while Antonelli's more aggressive turns of the wheel seem to be naturally putting him in the right window to extract the most out of the W17.

The difference first emerged in Miami, where Russell qualified four tenths behind Antonelli in both sprint and grand prix qualifying. Russell initially put that deficit down to the Miami Autodrome being a bogey track due to its smooth asphalt. But at the next two low-energy circuits with an abundance of low-speed corners but few higher-speed sections to put lateral load into the tyres, Montreal and Monte Carlo, a similar scenario emerged.

In Canada, Russell still managed to outqualify Antonelli by a narrow margin, although he admitted he was "nowhere until the last lap of Q3" in both qualifying sessions and managed to wrangle a "special" lap out of the bag.

But in Monaco's narrow streets Russell was beaten decisively, with Antonelli darting to pole while the former could only manage sixth, four tenths adrift.

“I don't really know what's going on to be honest,” said a flustered Russell. “It's clearly something with my driving that's not helping the car at the moment."

George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

In Monaco it emerged Russell struggled to get the tyres up to temperature, an issue which plagued other drivers up and down the grid too, with Antonelli seemingly better at naturally sliding the tyres into the right operating window without having to make a big adjustment. The biggest chunk of Russell's four-tenth deficit came in the second and third sectors, particularly through the Nouvelle Chicane.

There is a big distinction between acknowledging the difference on the telemetry and understanding how to address it, though. Saturday in Monaco left Russell "bamboozled", with his side of the garage now looking into ways he could adjust his driving on out-laps and investigating other set-up-related tweaks to help mitigate the issue on similarly low-speed circuits.

“I think there's clearly a difference in driving style between the two of us, which has been there last year as well," Russell elaborated. “It played into my hands very well last year and it clearly is playing into his hands perfectly well this year, but it still doesn't answer why I was so good at the start of the year and so poor now.

“So we need to look at why that is. It's clear in the data. The difference is how we're driving has such an impact on the tyres. He's just getting the tyres in a nicer window than me. A nicer balance over the course of a lap and the pace is just coming easier for him. I don't know why that is.”

The issue shouldn't be rearing its head at next weekend's Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix with its long, demanding corners, making the Spanish event a good barometer of whether the driving style theory is an isolated issue or whether there are other factors at play.

Even-keeled Antonelli doesn't blink when faced with his biggest test yet

That first trend wouldn't be such a big disaster if Russell had been paired with a rookie team-mate who's scuffling as well. But the 2026 spec of Kimi Antonelli is nothing like last year's version, and the second emerging trend that is really scuppering Russell's title hopes is that whatever F1 is throwing at his less experienced team-mate, the 19-year-old is simply responding to it with unflappable gusto.

Qualifying in Monaco was Antonelli's biggest test yet as he faced a surprise challenge by four-time world champion Max Verstappen for pole. As far as pressure goes, it doesn't get any more intense than the 3.3km street circuit. Every corner a chance to trip up, every undulation an opportunity to be knocked off kilter. But Antonelli delivered a supremely impressive pole lap, arguably his finest hour in F1 until now, and further underlined that he simply won't go away.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

Confidence is at an all-time high, and as Lewis Hamilton did before him, the Bologna native has meshed well with experienced race engineer Peter Bonnington in his ear.

"This is one of the most intense, if not the most intense qualifying sessions of the year, and it takes a massive effort, also in practice, because you just keep trying to get close to the limit," Antonelli said shortly after climbing out of the Mercedes, the adrenaline still coursing through his veins.

"Then it’s about finding the last two tenths, it’s not easy because the walls start to come closer and it’s not easy to gain the confidence. But I have to be honest, I felt great this morning and I’m happy that we could finish the job today.

"It was one of those laps that we call the magic lap."

With every passing race weekend Mercedes becomes more vindicated by its decision to let Antonelli get his rookie blues out of the way during a tough 2025 debut campaign, and alongside his natural turn of speed, his ability to absorb information and learn from his mistakes has turned him into a formidable competitor seemingly overnight.

Is Russell's issue temporary and track-specific or has he met his match in Antonelli? As the European races follow thick and fast with six races in eight weekends, the answer will come sooner rather than later.

Additional reporting by Ben Vinel

“A reality check” – why Lando Norris was expecting poor Monaco qualifying

George Russell bemused by pace deficit to F1 title rival Kimi Antonelli

F1 2026 qualifying head-to-head: Monaco GP

Photos from Monaco GP - Saturday

After every F1 qualifying session, Motorsport publishes each team's qualifying record in terms of team-mate battles.

This record is based exclusively on qualifying results so that grid penalties don't alter the statistics.

When a driver can't put in a representative lap time due to a technical issue or an incident, this will be mentioned in the table.

F1 Monaco GP: Kimi Antonelli takes sensational pole as George Russell struggles to sixth

The starting grid for the 2026 F1 Monaco GP

4-5

(4-2 without sprints)

Mercedes

(2-4 without sprints)

(4-2 without sprints)

Ferrari

4-5

(3-3 without sprints)

Williams

(1-4 without sprints)

Racing Bulls

(2-4 without sprints)

Aston Martin

(0-5 without sprints)

Haas

(2-4 without sprints)

Audi

(4-2 without sprints)

Alpine

(4-2 without sprints)

(4-2 without sprints)

Lando Norris’s 2026 season is shaping up to be the most disappointing one for a defending champion since Sebastian Vettel’s catastrophic 2014.

But while Vettel’s year was defined by struggles with an uncompetitive and unreliable Renault engine, McLaren’s 2026 has been an accumulation of small but telling frustrations: a chassis that’s effective enough for Norris to have won the Miami sprint race from pole, but troubled by a lack of front-end ‘feel’ and the presence of mysterious electrical gremlins.

Neither car started the Chinese Grand Prix, and McLaren had to break curfew overnight in Monaco to replace Norris’s wiring harness and other electrical components after his car stopped in FP2 on Friday. But it was the inability of the MCL40 to instil confidence in its drivers which consigned Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri to the fourth row of the grid, over half a second off Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s polesitting Mercedes.

F1 Monaco GP: Kimi Antonelli takes sensational pole as George Russell struggles to sixth

What’s interesting is that while team principal Andrea Stella told reporters in Canada that the MCL40 is reasonably strong in slow corners, and could be expected to perform well around a circuit like Monaco, Norris’s expectations were different. Indeed, he had thought ahead of the event that the fourth row was his most likely destination.

“I think just a slight difference of opinion,” Norris said in Monaco when pressed on this topic. 

“Obviously I'm the one driving the car, so I can tell the difficulty of extracting lap time, how difficult it was already last [race] weekend in Montreal. That's why I was so surprised last weekend to be as competitive as we were. 

“I think coming here is quite a, not an eye-opener, but still a slight reality check of how far off we are.

“I didn't have high hopes into this weekend. The car is just very difficult to drive, not very compliant, not very forgiving in any way. 

“So my confidence level last year was 100, now it's 85. And around Monaco, you know, you need to be at 100.”

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Alex Bierens de Haan / Getty Images

In Montreal, McLaren trialled a new front wing which it ultimately decided to remove, pending further evaluation in Monaco. But the results remain inconclusive; Piastri reverted to the previous spec ahead of qualifying, but his margin of just over a tenth over his team-mate could be accounted for by Norris stepping over the limit on his fastest lap.

Last season Norris struggled initially with the driveability of his car, saying he wasn’t “clicking” with it. That issue was eased out with a different front suspension geometry.

But Norris’s comments this weekend suggest another case of McLaren fielding a car which has great theoretical potential in terms of lap time, but the drivers struggle to access that performance – leading to a difference in outlook between them and the engineers. And again the front end seems to be a limiting factor.

Norris also reckoned that while he might have left a couple of tenths on the table through small errors such as the lock-up at the chicane on his final push lap, fundamentally the car isn’t quick enough to bridge that half-second gap to the leaders.

“You're always trying to push the car to the limit in every aspect, it's just our limit's here and the others' is slightly above,” he said. “It's as simple as that. It's also not as simple as that. 

“We struggle with some attributes, with front locking and the front of the car just not working very well. But this is a car thing, not a tyre thing, or a combination, and this is something we have to work on.”

Photos from Monaco GP - Saturday

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen steal show after Kimi Antonelli Monaco GP pole with viral moment

McLaren fined €30,000 after causing Monaco virtual safety car

Charles Leclerc has given insight into the accident that ended his hopes for a Monaco Grand Prix pole position, after he crashed his Ferrari Formula 1 car in Q3.

The Scuderia’s promising Friday pace, as it locked out the top two positions in both practice sessions, didn’t translate into the same Saturday performance in the principality.

Although Leclerc topped Q1, he was only fourth-fastest in the second segment of qualifying. When it came to Q3, the Monegasque suffered a mediocre early effort before snatching provisional pole position ahead of everyone’s last attempts.

While Kimi Antonelli, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton eventually went faster, Leclerc improved in sector one but crashed at Tabac after losing control of the SF-26, so ended up fourth on the grid for tomorrow’s race.

“I was very much on the edge, and I think it was a very good lap until then,” the Ferrari driver said. “But I never finished it, so it's a bit needless to say that. But, yeah, it was a good lap.

“I had a little bit of dirty air in that lap where I lost it in Turn 12. I don't know, there was no traffic in itself, it was just dirty air. It made me lose a little bit the rear in entry, and I touched the wall.”

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Erik Junius

The crash is unrelated to what is transpiring to be a more substantial, recurrent issue for Leclerc, who said he was “struggling massively” with the Ferrari’s “extremely inconsistent” braking – which is related to tyre temperature “and another issue”.

“The thing is that I'm definitely not knowing what I'm having,” he lamented. “At the moment it's a bit of a discovery whenever I get on the brakes, and I don't want to go too much into the detail and I won't go into more detail than what I've said.

“But it's been extremely inconsistent and I've just been struggling massively. Whether it was in Montreal or here, especially when tyres are just not in the right window. On top of that, the inconsistency from the car made it very difficult.

“Corner to corner, it is not really behaving the same way. It's just extremely tricky. We are speaking about details, but I think the fact of being in or out the window of the tyre all the time, these fine details make a huge difference. I've just been struggling with it.”

Asked if this was a recent problem or if it had been there all year, Leclerc elusively replied “I’ve been struggling recently”, but made it clear to Sky Sports F1 it has been a major issue since the Canadian Grand Prix.

This will be the first time he doesn’t start his home race from the front row since 2023.

Photos from Monaco GP - Saturday

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Ducati's MotoGP star Marc Marquez will line up on pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix for the second year in a row.

The reigning world champion shrugged off concerns about his fitness to top the qualifying session on Saturday, scoring his second pole position of 2026.

Joining him on the front row will be factory KTM rider Pedro Acosta, who set the pace in Practice on Friday, and Gresini sophomore Fermin Aldeguer.

VR46's Fabio di Giannantonio will take the start from fourth place, with factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia lining up in fifth after coming all the way from Q1 in qualifying.

The highest-placed Aprilia on the grid will be of Marco Bezzecchi in sixth, with the Noale-based manufacturer having suffered a difficult weekend so far at Balaton Park.

Bezzecchi will be followed closely by fellow Aprilia riders Raul Fernandez and Jorge Martin in seventh and eighth respectively.

Luca Marini will lead Honda's charge in ninth, with Ai Ogura completing the top 10 for Trackhouse.

The Hungarian GP grid will feature two substitute riders. Cal Crutchlow has again been called to stand in for Johann Zarco at LCR, while Iker Lecuona returns to MotoGP for the first time in three years to replace Alex Marquez at Gresini.

No grid penalties have been issued so far this weekend.

Photos from Hungarian GP - Saturday

Mercedes Formula 1 driver Kimi Antonelli has secured a sensational pole position for the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix, but it was the world champions alongside him who stole the show in the post-qualifying press conference with some tongue-in-cheek advice for the 19-year-old.

While Antonelli currently leads the drivers' championship with a 43-point lead over his team-mate George Russell, he has had some struggles at race starts. 

When asked during the press conference if Max Verstappen, who will start from second, and Lewis Hamilton, starting from third, had any advice for the Mercedes driver, both joked that he should wait after the lights go out. 

Addressing his own launch issues, Antonelli said: "I mean, the start in Montreal for the first time I didn't lose, well, I still lost a place on Sunday, but for the first time I didn't lose like six or seven places.

"So it was a step forward, it's a pretty short run in Monaco into Turn 1. I just need to get a clean start, don't try to do the magic start, and then we see from there."

Asked to share some advice, four-time champion Verstappen said: "So when the lights go out, you wait one second, and then that's my advice," before Hamilton added: "Yeah, two seconds."

Fans complimented the trio on social media. "Big brothers energy," one fan commented on Reddit, while another added: "I love the energy, pure racer vibes only."

"I love how hilarious this trio is. Their synergy is great," someone else posted.

"This trio is great vibes, we are really lucky to see generational talents from three different generations compete at the front at the same time," another comment read, while someone else posted: "Kimi’s fun uncles."

Further comments included: "Lmao they’ve been so funny lately, this has the same vibe as Lewis copying Max’s thumbs up about McLaren starting on inters in Canada," and "Max and Lewis together like this is really entertaining. The double thumbs up and now this, I hope we get more."

Photos from Monaco GP - Saturday

Max Verstappen says the nature of Monaco Grand Prix qualifying had allowed him to "feel like myself again" at the wheel of a Formula 1 car, having taken a dim view of the 2026 regulations and their demands thus far.

Of the current drivers, Verstappen has been one of the more vocal opponents of the current brand of F1 powertrain regulations thus far. The 53-47 split in power output between the internal combustion engine and electrical components has put more weight on battery management, with some circuits making it incredibly hard to harvest energy through a lap.

The knock-on effect of this has been in the bigger differences in energy levels. While this has increased the level of wheel-to-wheel action and quantity of overtakes, this has been criticised for being too artificial in nature. 

Although happy with the smaller cars, Verstappen has been relied upon to produce withering commentary of the powertrain regulations, likening it to "Mario Kart" and referring to the use of boost and overtake mode as the "mushroom" speed boost available in the Nintendo-produced arcade racer. 

However, Monaco has been different. Given the abundance of low-speed corners, it is very easy for the cars to charge up through the lap, nullifying the need to manage the battery. Verstappen agrees that has led to a far more natural driving experience.

"I think the chassis regulation is not bad at all, so I think in general with the cars being a little bit more narrow, I think it was alright," he began. "I quite like now the vision on the front axle is a bit better around apexes again, instead of that thing we had above the tyre before [wheel deflector].

"If you can go flat out and you can just select the gears that you want to use in the corners, it's always going to be better. So, I finally felt just myself again in the car, let's say like that, with the way you want to use the gears.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images

"Unfortunately, of course we can't do that in too many places on the calendar, but that's what that makes it more and more natural to drive."

Verstappen was surprised by his ability to fight for pole in Monaco, noting that Red Bull had found themselves far away from its expectations after FP3.

It was suggested ahead of the weekend that Red Bull might struggle with the middle sector of the Monaco lap, particularly as its recent lineage of cars have struggled for performance across bumps and kerbs.

Although the middle sector remained a weakness, Verstappen was the quickest driver in Q3 through the first and last sectors - but Antonelli's extra pace in the second sector (albeit slower than Hamilton's best) sealed the deal.

"Quite [surprised] after this morning, we were like nine tenths off. I was confident that we would make some improvements heading into qualifying but, yeah, not to fight for pole," the Dutchman explained. 

F1 Monaco GP: Kimi Antonelli takes sensational pole as George Russell struggles to sixth

"Honestly, when I jumped into the car I was like, 'okay, let's try and recover a bit, maybe top five'. That was the target, but I'd say from quite early on in qualifying, the car felt a bit better. 

"We still have our little problems and especially in the middle sector that's where we lose the most, you have a few curbs that you have to take and there are a few bumps, or ride stuff on the track that is just a little bit more complicated at the moment for our car.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images

"But I still think that, overall, we had a very good qualifying. We were up there, we were fighting for pole, so even if you would have told me after yesterday where we looked quite okay to be starting on the front row, I would have immediately taken it.

"It's been a very good turnaround. Yes, I was quite happy, this morning really not happy and now I'm fairly happy again. So that's, of course, good when it matters, you know.

"This was, of course, the most important session of the weekend. Of course, tomorrow there's still a start which this year seems a little bit more critical to get right compared to other years where it was not such a big deal, I would say. So that's still something that we have to look at but, yeah, overall for us this has been a very positive weekend."

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George Russell bemused by pace deficit to F1 title rival Kimi Antonelli

Photos from Monaco GP - Saturday

Aprilia riders have offered possible explanations to the marque’s lacklustre showing at the Hungarian Grand Prix so far, suggesting the performance issues are not solely down to the MotoGP track layout. 

After a dominant start to the 2026 MotoGP season in which it proved that the RS-GP is a well-rounded bike that can work at a wide variety of tracks, Aprilia hasn’t featured at the sharp end at Balaton Park this weekend.

While Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta stole the show for Ducati and KTM respectively, Aprilia was reduced to the third-best manufacturer on Saturday. This gap was particularly evident in qualifying, where the top Aprilia of Marco Bezzecchi finished sixth and more than six tenths down on polesitter Marquez.

MotoGP Hungarian GP: Marc Marquez beats Pedro Acosta to claim sensational pole

In the sprint race, Bezzecchi made a rapid launch to grab third early on but could pose no threat to Marquez or Acosta, finishing 2.7s off the lead. Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez finished right on Bezzecchi’s tail, factory rider Jorge Martin could only manage sixth, while Ai Ogura failed to even break inside the points.

Asked why Aprilia was suffering at the stop-and-go Balaton track, Martin said: “It seems like when we release the brake, we lose the line a bit. With less downforce, we struggle to turn at the slow corners.

“But then in T2, in the second sector, with a lot of downforce, we are super competitive. So, for sure, the bike is really good in terms of aerodynamics, but as soon as we lose the downforce, we struggle.”

Martin started the sprint in eighth and was trying to climb up the order when he was forced to take the shortcut at the chicane while following LCR Honda rider Diogo Moreira.

The Spaniard had to voluntarily drop time to avoid a penalty, halting his momentum in the sprint.

Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Speaking afterwards, Martin explained that he struggled with the front-end of the bike, which is supposed to be a key strength of Aprilia’s 2026 package.

“I did my best and I was catching even the group, but I went long again while in corner 15,” he said. “This was the consequence of not having a really good feeling overall. 

“I'm trying it, but it seems like I don't make the front work on the range. So I never have a good grip in the front. 

“The rear is not bad, honestly. But we need to understand this a bit and make it work. I think a small step in the set-up will help me a lot in terms of times.”

Changing conditions 

Meanwhile, Bezzecchi made several mistakes in qualifying, with his ideal lap time three tenths quicker than the one he strung together at the end of Q2.

The championship leader said he had no chance of matching Marquez and Acosta’s pace, even if he had caught up with them at the start.

However, he denied that Aprilia’s relative struggles in Balaton Park were down to the track layout, instead pointing to the changing conditions - including a sharp increase in temperature from Friday - as a major factor.

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing, Marc Marquez, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

“The conditions this week have been quite different from last year,” he said. “The grip in general from the track has always been less. If you see, the lap times are quite slower compared to last year in general - not only the sprint but also in the free practices, in the qualifying.

“So it's difficult to find consistency, it's difficult to find a situation where conditions improve or at least are the same every session. 

“In the first couple of laps during the sprint, I was struggling and I was feeling like on ice. I don't think it's more a matter of a stop-and-go track, it's more a matter of trying to adapt better to this kind of situation where the conditions are changing.”

Fernandez believes the Balaton Park Circuit isn’t allowing Aprilia riders to extract the maximum performance out of the bike.

“On this track, we cannot use our bike 100% because our hard point is the stability, and here we don't have a corner with stability. You need a flowing bike,” he said. “Also, you have two riders [Marquez and Acosta] that are making the difference.”

Braking troubles

Ogura believes Aprilia riders are struggling with braking this weekend, but was at a loss to explain why the problem only appeared at Balaton Park.

“I haven't spoken with any other Aprilia riders yet, but I think everybody struggled in the same part,” he said. “I think the biggest limitation in qualifying was the straight braking. That's where we lost a lot of time compared to fast guys. 

“I think I said this many times that we improved the braking a lot. And I feel we are quite competitive on the brake, but not in this circuit.”

Asked why the Aprilias were struggling on braking at this venue, he added: I don’t know. I don’t really understand.”

Photos from Hungarian GP - Saturday

Aprilia explains why it has not been in victory fight in Hungarian MotoGP

Why MotoGP’s Hungarian GP sprint turned out to be a procession

Richard Childress made himself available to the media on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway for the first time since the death of Kyle Busch.

As it turns out, this press conference had been scheduled for several weeks, and the time had been made available to formally announce that the two-time Cup Series champion was signing an extension with RCR for 2027.

The agreement was that close to being finalized. Childress says that Busch told him that they were going to make the Chase for the Championship if they kept bringing cars that were as competitive as they started to be.

Beyond that, he and interim crew chief Andy Street were starting to build something that everyone felt was a foundation for a more competitive future. That contract was never signed and what would have happened will be forever left to the imagination.

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“This is a different different type of media availability,” Childress said. “Instead of a press conference that he was coming back and racing for us in ’27 … I talked to Kyle on Tuesday night before everything went down on Wednesday night and Thursday and we had a great conversation talking about how he said, ‘you give me cars like you gave me the last three weeks,’ he said, ‘I will make The Chase this year.

“I mean we were that confident. Both of us had a lot of confidence in us. We haven't had the year that any of us expected or wanted. We started out like gangbusters and it just didn't go. We've had a lot of opportunities and we just didn't finish 'em off. But that's a tough part about today. Even walking in here, I was thinking, ‘what if he and I were walking in together instead coming in here and thanking the media for the support.”

Childress has been here before, of course, losing Dale Earnhardt on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 but it doesn’t get any easier.

“This has been, I mean both of them, you lose two of the greatest drivers that has ever driven a car in NASCAR and have to go through it again …,” Childress said. “I just feel so bad for the family and the employees and everybody. But yeah, I mean I hadn't slept very good lately and I'll leave it at that.”

Childress also said it is his every intent to have Austin Hill finish the season in what was the No. 8 car, now rebranded as the No. 33 but with the same crew and sponsorship lineup.

“I mean for right now Austin is going to drive as far as we're concerned the rest of the year,” Childress said. “We don't want to put a burden back on everybody trying to go from one driver to the other one.”

Meanwhile, Childress is preserving the stylized No. 8 for Brexton Busch, should the son of Kyle ever want to use it when the time comes. All told, Childress was just happy that he got a chance to race alongside one of the all-time greats and forge a personal relationship with him.

“Kyle will go down in history as one of the greatest race drivers that's ever been,” Childress said. “He’ll definitely be in the Hall of Fame. I'd love to see him put him in it right away. He helped RCR when we needed it. He came right in and we won three races the first part of the year, got a little off and we had a lot of opportunities to win other races and we just didn't finish and capitalize on them.

“But I think his legacy is going to be that he was a man that a lot of people thought he was tough to deal with and that we wouldn't last long. But he is a man that loves this sport. He loved it so much. He wanted to see his family carry on and I watched what he had going on with Brexton and I would go to the races over at Millbridge and watch them race together.

“I would see the enjoyment in Kyle’s eyes. Watching his son race was just unbelievable. His legacy will be in history. He'll go down as one of the greatest drivers of all time. He's won over 200 races and just all of us are going to miss him. You guys and ladies are going to miss having him in here after a win.”

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After Ferrari demonstrated great speed in practice, the Italian team found itself on the back foot in the battle for Formula 1 pole at the Monaco Grand Prix - and Lewis Hamilton said his car was "completely different" from Friday to Saturday.

Ferrari resisted the urge to make too many changes overnight after headlining both FP1 and FP2, since the balance of the SF-26 was in a good place at the end of the Friday sessions, but Hamilton felt that he was lacking confidence in the rear end of the car by the start of qualifying.

The team reduced the front wing flap angle through the session to balance the car out, bringing Hamilton into a happier place by the start of Q3, but he was surprised by the increases in performance that Mercedes and Red Bull had uncovered overnight - Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen locked out the front row of the grid with their final laps of the session.

Hamilton was unsure why the car's balance had swung so much, and admitted that he confidence in the car "was completely gone" at the start of qualifying before the team reduced the downforce level at the front end.

"I don't think we went the wrong way with set-up, that's the thing," Hamilton explained. "I think it was the tiniest tweaks, like a millimetre here, a millimetre there, so tiniest tweaks.

"But we really need to look into what switched because the car was completely different to what it was before and I didn't have any rear end for some reason. I'd had a good balance most of the weekend.

"I do think with the pace that we had yesterday I think we could have been closer, but you know these guys really started putting out some amazing times at the end, so fair play to them. We'll push hard tomorrow, hopefully we can keep up and who knows maybe we could have a really good start.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images

"I really don't know [what changed], I think for us, apart from like wanting more downforce globally, I think when we arrived on Thursday we saw other people with those trick additions to their wing, we didn't have that which was a little bit of a surprise. 

"But as I said our pace was looking good, in general to go quicker we needed more front end. But we got to qualifying, I had a lot of front end and I had to take out like 10 holes of front wing for some reason. Once we took that out, the car was a little bit more reasonable by my last lap in Q3, but I needed that balance to start in Q1 and then build upon that.

"It's all about confidence. I didn't have it, it was completely gone in Q1 and then I was trying to pull back what I could."

Regardless, Hamilton was reasonably pleased with his third-place finish in qualifying, although felt that Ferrari deserved to break Mercedes' current stranglehold over pole position this year.

He reiterated his stance that he was in a "really good place" with Ferrari, and promised that he would "hassle" Antonelli and Verstappen as much as possible to contend for victory.

"I think relatively I'm relatively happy with P3, obviously P1 is what I already wanted and I really felt like the team deserved to finally get it, but I felt capable," he added.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

"I'm in a really good place with the car, I'm in a really good place with the team and you can see that I have decent pace still in me, there's no lacking of pace which I'm really grateful and happy about, regardless of all the negative comments people have made over the times. It's good; I just keep on putting the work in and I'll keep showing up and I'll keep delivering.

"You know how these races go, it's very difficult [to overtake]. I hope that we can get a really good start and maybe apply some pressure to the two and we need rain probably. 

"But nothing's impossible if you keep the applying the pressure, it's going to be very hard to beat these two, you've got two great drivers who are in quick cars and have been very quick all weekend. 

"It's a shame this race is generally often such a procession and in the sense of just that we're just often following each other and the car is always overheating, brakes always overheating, just with the way the track is and obviously we only have really one stop, because the tyres are so hard and often go so far.

"But I'm going to still give it absolutely everything and try and hassle them as much as I can and try and force them into not making certain corners."

George Russell bemused by pace deficit to F1 title rival Kimi Antonelli

F1 Monaco GP: Kimi Antonelli takes sensational pole as George Russell struggles to sixth

Photos from Monaco GP - Saturday

Mercedes Formula 1 team principal Toto Wolff has revealed that a loss of confidence in his machinery was the primary catalyst for George Russell's underwhelming performance during qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix. 

Despite showing flashes of promise during the final practice session around Monte Carlo, the British driver struggled to replicate that form in qualifying. While his team-mate Kimi Antonelli went on to secure pole position, Russell found himself down in sixth. 

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 following the tense qualifying session, Wolff shared: "We tend to look a lot on the psychological side, but George is very robust and resilient. There were a few races that went against him because luck wasn't on his side, or he wasn't there at the right moment. And here, I don't think it's so much as a psychological side.
 
"He just never had the confidence in the car. Qualifying started on a back foot. FP3 was still very OK.

George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

"And once you start to run behind the performance and you lose the confidence, it's super difficult to catch up again. And I think it would have been one session more, he would have been there or thereabouts, but he didn't have any grip. Monaco, no grip means you can't push it."

After starting the season on a high note with wins at the Australian Grand Prix and Chinese sprint race, Russell suffered car issues during qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, had his strategy hampered by a safety car at the Japanese Grand Prix and faced more car issues at the Canadian Grand Prix. 

Antonelli became the youngest driver to lead the championship after back-to-back wins at the Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix, before continuing to win the Miami and Canadian Grands Prix. He has now extended his lead to 43 points over Russell.

Photos from Monaco GP - Saturday

The sprint race for the MotoGP Hungarian Grand Prix was devoid of action, with the order at the front essentially set after the opening lap.

Ducati’s Marc Marquez led all 13 laps from pole position, with KTM rider Pedro Acosta not putting on much of a challenge. While Marco Bezzecchi came under pressure from Raul Fernandez and Fermin Aldeguer in the fight for the final podium spot, the trio finished the race nose-to-tail, with neither Fernandez nor Aldeguer attempting a pass.

A combination of factors turned the 13-lap contest at Balaton Park into a procession. The start-stop nature of the circuit was never going to be conducive to overtaking, as attested by the inaugural edition in 2025. But a sudden spike in temperature on Saturday afternoon added to the complications, especially after Practice took place in cooler conditions on Friday - even with the threat of rain.

This explained the drop in lap time compared to Friday, but more significantly the 2025 Hungarian GP weekend, despite the bikes becoming faster through natural evolution.

Further, Michelin again adopted a safe approach with its tyre selection, with several riders admitting that it could have brought softer rubber this weekend. As such, the entire field started the sprint on the soft tyre, and reported little degradation.

Instead, overheating became the biggest issue, which only made it harder for riders to follow each other on track.

There was some action in the midfield, particularly in the first half, due to several riders starting out of position. 

Aprilia’s Jorge Martin started the race in eighth place and had to go straight through the chicane while chasing LCR Honda rookie Diogo Moreira. He had to cede any advantage he gained by taking the shortcut, and eventually finished the sprint in sixth.

Martin summed up why overtaking was a premium around the Balaton Park Circuit.

“It's really easy to make mistakes and each mistake costs you a lot of time,” he said. “So when you do an overtake, you must be sure that it's going to happen. Because if not, it's better to stay behind.”

Most riders were also overly cautious at the start of the race, with the newly-resurfaced Turn 1 offering little in terms of grip. The same corner had already caught out both Marquez and Fabio di Giannantonio in qualifying earlier on Saturday.

“It doesn't help that the new asphalt they laid is made of oil or something, because it's f****g slippery,” said Brad Binder. "It [oil] is still seeping through, so clearly not working too great as soon as you go off the line.”

Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Johann Zarco’s stand-in Cal Crutchlow also pointed out how MotoGP riders always control the pace on the opening lap, with a lack of overtaking opportunities at Balaton Park contributing to the “blockade effect”.

“At the start, I thought, ‘why are they all going so slow?'," said Crutchlow. "Also, in Mugello, I felt exactly the same. In the first lap, it's like a blockade. So you're blocked in the back. 

“You wonder why they're going so slow, but the reality is, they can't really pass each other, because - I'm not saying it is dangerous - but it's difficult to pass.

"In the back, you're like half throttle everywhere, thinking, ‘why are they going so slow?’ But then you try and pass someone and you say, ‘oh no, I can't do it, it's impossible'.”

Several riders had their own individual issues that contributed to a poor show at Balaton Park.

Trackhouse’s Fernandez, who spent much of the race chasing Bezzecchi for third, said: “On this track, it is quite difficult to be close, especially because I had overheating in the front tyre. 

“When you have overheating, it is quite difficult to try to attack because you cannot stop the bike.”

Honda’s Joan Mir, who struggled to 15th, added: “Here, if you are not able to stop the bike, you cannot overtake.

“We saw a very boring race. I've also been bored while riding. Because when I don't have the chance to attack, I just stay behind because I cannot ride how I want.“

VR46’s Di Giannantonio slipped down the order on the opening lap after qualifying fourth, and he could only recover to 10th at the finish.

Asked about the lack of overtaking in Hungary, he said: “All the tracks are different, all the conditions are different. 

“In Barcelona, there is zero grip, in Mugello there is more grip, you go fast. Here you go slower, everything is slower, it is more difficult to overtake.”

Photos from Hungarian GP - Saturday

Marc Marquez “stronger than expected” as he explains Hungary MotoGP sprint win

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George Russell was left bewildered by his pace deficit to Formula 1 title rival and team-mate Kimi Antonelli who took pole for the Monaco Grand Prix.

The 19-year-old set a 1m12.051s to beat runner-up Max Verstappen by just 0.043s to the top spot, while Russell struggled down in sixth, three tenths off the pace in another blow to his title hopes.

Russell is 43 points behind leader Antonelli despite being the heavy favourite pre-season, which he backed up by winning the Melbourne opener from pole in a Mercedes 1-2.

But all four grands prix since have been won by Antonelli, who looks set to make it five considering how few overtaking opportunities there are around Monaco.

“I don't really know what's going on to be honest,” said Russell. “It's clearly something with my driving that's not helping the car at the moment.

“But that was there at the start of the year as well and every lap I did it was... If I look at Melbourne and at least China until I have my issues, it was P1 every single session.

“Every lap I did was good. The last three races have just been nowhere. Even Canada, I was nowhere until the last lap of Q3 in both sessions. So I don't have an answer for that.”

George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

Mercedes has dominated the 2026 regulation change as expected and considering Russell’s strong race-winning 2025 compared to Antonelli’s up-and-down rookie campaign, the Briton was expected to charge towards his maiden title.

But after Melbourne, he suffered a mechanical issue in Shanghai Q3 that paved the way for Antonelli to win from pole, before the Italian profited from a safety car in Japan to claim another victory.

Antonelli was superior throughout Miami, a so-called ‘bogey track’ for his team-mate, before winning in Canada after Russell retired from the lead following his sprint victory.

So, Russell seemingly cannot catch a break, particularly when his last podium came in China, and he thinks his smoother driving style doesn’t suit the nimbler 2026 cars.

That is compared to Antonelli, who is extremely quick and on the limit, which very much served him well around the principality’s street track.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

Russell added: “I think there's clearly a difference in driving style between the two of us, which has been there last year as well.

“But played into my hands very well last year and it clearly is playing into his hands perfectly well this year, but it still doesn't answer why I was so good at the start of the year and so poor now.

“So, we need to look at why that is. It's clear in the data. The difference is how we're driving has such an impact on the tyres. He's just getting the tyres in a nicer window than me.

“A nicer balance over the course of a lap and the pace is just coming easier for him. So yeah, I don't know why that is.”

F1 Monaco GP: Kimi Antonelli takes sensational pole as George Russell struggles to sixth

Photos from Monaco GP - Saturday