Lewis Hamilton will take off from Pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix after both Mercedes beat Max Verstappen to the fastest time amid Q3 today.
Valtteri Bottas had a strong Qualifying this afternoon (P2) at the Hungaroring in the second Mercedes, while Sergio Perez ended today 1.002s off the leading pace in the second Red Bull in P4.
Championship leader, Verstappen, will have a challenge tomorrow finding his way around two Mercedes to take the lead but the Red Bull driver is set for the challenge from P3.
Hamilton managed to find some incredible speed and grip on his final flying lap this afternoon after spending time way off Bottas’ pace – his fastest lap was a 1:15.419, placing him 0.421s ahead of his closest rival, Verstappen.
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly continued to impress this afternoon and will be in P5 for tomorrow’s race followed by McLaren’s Lando Norris in 6th.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will be in seventh at lights out, with the Alpine dup close behind in P8 and P9, and Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel closes out the top 10.
Speaking after Qualifying, Max Verstappen said; “Clearly the whole weekend so far we have been a bit behind and it showed again in qualifying.
“Of course not what we wanted but nevertheless we’re still there in P3 and we’ll see what we can do. But so far not what I want.
“It’s going to be different [starting on the soft tyre to Merc’s mediums]. The grip was quite a bit higher on these tyres, we will find out tomorrow. It’s going to be really hot so naturally, a softer tyre will not last as long as a medium, but nevertheless, it will give us a good opportunity off the line.
“My lap time on the medium would have really been on the edge for the top 10 so that’s why we decided to finish the lap [on the soft in Q2].”
Meanwhile, tomorrow’s pole-sitter, Lewis Hamilton said;
“It was an amazing qualifying lap that last one. It has been amazing teamwork from everyone this weekend, Valtteri included. Trying to push the car forwards and developing constantly.
“It has been amazing to see everyone come together, rallying up and pushing forward.
“It’s definitely great having a lockout for our team.
“I appreciate the great support I have here. Honestly, I’ve never actually felt so great with the booing, if anything it just fuels me. So I don’t really mind it.”
