George Russell of Mercedes beat both Ferraris and world champion Max Verstappen to claim his maiden pole position with a spectacular last-gasp lap in Saturday's qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix (GP).

The 24-year-old Briton clocked a best lap in one minute and 17.377 seconds to outpace Carlos Sainz in the leading Ferrari by 0.044 seconds. Charles Leclerc was third in the second Ferrari, one-tenth adrift.

Top 5 results in Hungarian GP qualifying 

1 George Russel of Mercedes 1:17.377

2 Carlos Sainz of Ferrari 1:17.421

3 Charles Leclerc of Ferrari 1:17.567

4 Lando Norris of McLaren 1:17.769

5 Esteban Ocon of Alpine 1:18.018

Russell's first pole in his 73rd Grand Prix was also Mercedes's first since last year's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

"I'm over the moon – absolutely buzzing," said Russell. "The lap time kept coming to me and it was an incredible feeling when I cross the line and saw P1."

Sainz was quick to congratulate him.

"George must have produced a pretty good lap," he said, while Leclerc took consolation from knowing Verstappen would start 10th while he was third on the grid.

George Russell can turn his first F1 pole position into a first career victory in Hungary on Sunday, according to Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.

"I think if we can maintain the position at the start, and be first coming out of the first lap and drive a solid race and have some good stops, why not? We can win this," Wolff told Sky Sports television.

"We haven't been in the hunt for wins this season, we know how quick Ferrari was all the time, Charles was solid in the lead in the last race," he added.

"Max is a bit further behind which is also not bad for an end result."

(With input from agencies)

(Cover: George Russell of Mercedes wins the pole position during the F1 Hungarian GP qualifying in Budapest, Hungary, July 30, 2022. /CFP)