DriverFormula 1HamiltonMercedes

Hungarian Quali: Lewis got his 90th Pole

Lewis Hamilton will start the Hungarian Grand Prix from pole position, the third race of the 2020 Formula 1 World Championship season, at the Hungaroring.

Force India Racing Point will lock the second row and Ferrari will lock the third.

Lewis and Valtteri on a different planet

Mercedes were in a league of their own – Lewis beat Bottas by 0.181 seconds while Racing Point’s Lance Stroll in third was 0.93secs off the pace.

“I have to pinch myself, it just doesn’t register,” said Lewis, after leading a Mercedes one-two in qualifying.

“It’s quite humbling to be honest because I get to work with an incredible group of people, who without I wouldn’t get the opportunity to do so. So I’m massively thankful to everyone back home and the guys here who do such an amazing job.”

Pink Mercedes Racing Point in top form

Stroll headed a Racing Point second row alongside team-mate Sergio Perez.

“The car was on fire today … I’m going to try and get some big points tomorrow,” said an exuberant Stroll, whose teammate Sergio Pérez was fourth.

Ferrari better than in Austria

Ferrari locked out row three, Sebastian Vettel ahead of Charles Leclerc, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen seventh.

Lando Norris, third in the championship after two impressive opening races, was eighth for McLaren, while George Russell put in an impressive performance for the Williams team, recovering from a dismal 2019, in 12th.

Q1

Ferrari engine teams suffered again. Both Kimi and Antonio struggled to get into Q2. The Haas pair also went no further, Kevin Magnussen falling short by a tenth of a second. The Williams pair looked like a Q2 threat from the off, and both drivers delivered on the car’s potential. George’s last effort put him in the rare heights of third – he eventually went through in ninth – while Nicholas Latifi claimed the final place in Q2.

Despite problems with his power unit, Gasly grabbed a place in the next stage of qualifying, but team mate Daniil Kvyat got no further. Max Verstappen also complained of poor performance from his Honda, and had a minor scare as he fell close to the drop zone at the end of the session, but comfortably made it through.

Q2

With an eye on the strategy for tomorrow’s race, Mercedes, Racing Point and Renault sent their drivers out on the medium tyre compound for the start of Q2. The results were mixed.

Mercedes of course had no issue getting into Q3. Racing Point struggled and it seemed that Perez might not be able to make to Q3. He just managed to squeeze in a lap and made in to the final session.

With Daniel struggling on mediums, Renault opted for softs for their final run, but it wasn’t enough to get either driver into the final 10. Ricciardo fell short by 0.153 seconds after Leclerc’s last lap comfortably put him into Q3.

While the two Williams drivers failing to reach Q3 was no great surprise, Russell distinguished himself by out-qualifying Albon’s Red Bull, which was seven-tenths of a second slower than his team mate’s. “Sorry guys but I told you just don’t put me in traffic,” fumed Albon as he returned to the pits.

Q3

Gasly retired and did not participate in Q3.

Bottas was second-quickest after the first runs, following by Lance Stroll, while Perez’s lap time was deleted after he ran wide at turn four. He was followed by Verstappen, then the McLarens and Ferraris.

Seemingly not wishing to risk another lap time deletion, Perez posted the fourth-quickest time to join his team mate on the second row.

The pole position fight was an all-Mercedes affair. But Hamilton had too much for Bottas: improving his time in the second and third sectors, he lowered the track record again to a 1’13.447. Bottas could, but he remained a tenth shy of his team mate.

Ferrari’s decision to run early paid off: They claimed the third row of the grid behind the Racing Point pair. Verstappen, seventh, was almost three-tenths of a second slower than he had been last year. The McLaren pair will start eighth and ninth, while Gasly did not set a time.

Classification at the end of Q3

Qualification Highlights

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *