Photo: Jean Michel Le Meur/DPPI
Oliver Rowland claimed his second pole position in Formula Renault 3.5 after coming out on top in the first qualifying session at the Hungaroring, as points leader Carlos Sainz found himself marooned down in 14th by a late red flag.
Rowland went a second clear of the field in the closing stages, and that lap was good enough to keep him on top even as others improved, until an early end to the session triggered when Marco Sorensen went off.
Rowland’s long-time rival Pierre Gasly got nearest to him, closing to within 0.153 seconds of the Briton. Four Frenchmen will fill the top six places on the grid, with Norman Nato and Matthieu Vaxiviere sharing row two, and series debutant Esteban Ocon claiming sixth alongside Will Stevens.
Championship P2 driver Roberto Merhi was seventh, ahead of Sorensen, Oscar Tunjo and Matias Laine.
Sainz got himself up into third place inside the last few minutes, but with most drivers improving on every lap, he was shuffled down to 14th by the time the red flag came out. He had set a personal best sector on his last lap, but would be unable to complete it.
Sergey Sirotkin triggered another red flag early on, and will have to start from 23rd and last.
Qualifying results
| Pos | Driver? | Team | Time? | Gap | Laps? |
| 1 | Oliver Rowland | Fortec Motorsports | 1:30.203 | 16 | |
| 2 | Pierre Gasly | Arden Motorsport | 1:30.356 | 0.153 | 15 |
| 3 | Norman Nato | DAMS | 1:30.401 | 0.198 | 15 |
| 4 | Matthieu Vaxiviere | Lotus | 1:30.531 | 0.328 | 14 |
| 5 | Will Stevens | Strakka Racing | 1:30.602 | 0.399 | 14 |
| 6 | Esteban Ocon | Comtec Racing | 1:30.722 | 0.519 | 15 |
| 7 | Roberto Merhi | Zeta Corse | 1:30.783 | 0.580 | 13 |
| 8 | Marco Sorensen | Tech 1 Racing | 1:30.937 | 0.734 | 12 |
| 9 | Oscar Tunjo | Pons Racing | 1:31.006 | 0.803 | 13 |
| 10 | Matias Laine | Strakka Racing | 1:31.263 | 1.060 | 14 |
| 11 | Jazeman Jaafar | ISR | 1:31.334 | 1.131 | 14 |
| 12 | Marlon Stockinger | Lotus | 1:31.385 | 1.182 | 14 |
| 13 | Pietro Fantin | International Draco Racing | 1:31.476 | 1.273 | 15 |
| 14 | Carlos Sainz | DAMS | 1:31.648 | 1.445 | 14 |
| 15 | Cameron Twynham | Comtec Racing | 1:31.920 | 1.717 | 15 |
| 16 | Meindert van Buuren | Pons Racing | 1:32.070 | 1.867 | 14 |
| 17 | Roman Mavlanov | Zeta Corse | 1:32.172 | 1.969 | 14 |
| 18 | Beitske Visser | AVF | 1:32.644 | 2.441 | 17 |
| 19 | Zoel Amberg | AVF | 1:32.911 | 2.708 | 7 |
| 20 | Nicholas Latifi | Tech 1 Racing | 1:34.146 | 3.943 | 7 |
| 21 | Luca Ghiotto | International Draco Racing | 1:39.702 | 9.499 | 6 |
| 22 | William Buller | Arden Motorsport | 1:39.859 | 9.656 | 2 |
| 23 | Sergey Sirotkin | Fortec Motorsports | 1:41.696 | 11.493 | 2 |