Hungarian Gp Qualifying was a mad rush that saw Russell grabbing his first pole position in Formula 1, and to say he is delighted is an understatement. He shares the front row with Sainz, who was just 0.044s back. In this section, we look into what happened in the crazy Hungarian Gp Qualifying.
Raining Saturday
The forecast rain did arrive in spades, but as the track dried towards the end of the session, one driver got his timing right to take advantage of the conditions in FP3. It is Nicholas Latifi. Right, so onto those current conditions. The racing line looks dry, although some run-off areas might still be damp. The track temperature has climbed from 22 to 28 Degrees Celsius, and there has been some support series action that has further dried the track before the start of the Hungarian Gp Qualifying. Chance of Rain 30%
Hungarian Gp Qualifying – 1
The cameras positioned at Turn 1 are showing some huge dark clouds beyond the final corner. Even if the weather holds for qualifying, it doesn’t seem likely to hold off for much longer. Time to get a banker lap in, and that’s what Magnussen and Tsunoda think as they head straight out on the red-marked soft tire.
Verstappen now goes top with a 1m 19.020s. Ferrari is out, and Schumacher is the first driver to lose lap time. Max improves as the track rubbers into 1.18.792 while Norris is on the way to upsetting the top runners. Ferrari is much, much quicker next time around but they still can’t match the Red Bull of Verstappen. Second for Sainz, 0.052s back and third for Leclerc.
Eliminated in Q1: Tsunoda, Albon, Vettel, Gasly, Latifi.
Q2 in Hungarian Gp
Time for the second segment of qualifying, and here come the cars. The Haas boys lead the way out and then comes the Mercedes pair. Ferrari is next out, as the cars come two by two followed by Redbull’s.
Leclerc is top, a tenth clear of Russell. Hamilton is a further two-tenths back, and Magnussen pips his teammate. Sainz slots into second behind his teammate but here comes Norris and it’s P1 for the McLaren man.
Perez goes to P14 after the lap time is deleted. The times are tumbling here, second for Alonso, fourth for Zhou. No make that fifth, Ricciardo has just gone forth. The track is evolving fast here and the fight to make the top 10 is going to be incredibly tight.
Perez got his lap time reinstated but he is in the knockout zone as Bottas and Ricciardo have improved in Hungarian Gp Qualifying.
Eliminated in Q2: Perez, Zhou, Magnusson, Stroll, Schumacher.
Q3 in Hungarian Gp
Will Leclerc take Ferrari’s first #HungarianGP pole since Vettel in 2017? Or will Max Verstappen emulate his efforts from 2019 ? as we are a go for Q3 in Hungarian Gp Qualifying? All 10 cars are out on track, and the first to start a flyer is Ocon, followed by Ricciardo. Verstappen was last to leave the pits.
Leclerc is up to 1.17.985 pipped by 1.17.505 of Sainz. Max can only do 7th after a big lock-up on that lap. It’s all brewing as the final run will be so so close. It’s in Ferrari’s favor at the moment.
Ocon has set off on his final flying lap of qualifying. Alonso follows and it seems the track is ramping up as there are plenty of personal bests coming in. But Verstappen is still limping around and he’s got all sorts of issues.
But Mr. Saturday has proved once again and puts his car on Pole! Mercedes starts first and seventh – and as for Red Bull, after a strong Q1 and Q2 segment from Verstappen, just what happened to his Power Unit and will that be an issue for the race? He is down in P10 at a track where overtaking is tricky, while he can’t count on Perez to take points away from Ferrari as the Mexican is even lower in 11th.
Ferrari is the best placed, with Sainz second and one on the clean side of the grid while Leclerc will be going for the win from third. They need to make a big dent in Red Bull’s championship lead if they can, but first, they need to take care of Russell.
