In the much-anticipated (and continuing) battle between Mercedes and Red Bull and between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, it might have looked as though Red Bull and Verstappen would take the pole for Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix. But Mercedes prevailed in the end.
BUDAPEST, Hungary—Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes’s partner, Valtteri Bottas, held sway, placing 1-2, thereby locking the front row for Sunday’s race. Hamilton took pole with the best time of 1:15:419, while series leader Verstappen had to settle for third.
It did not take too long for Hamilton to get his rhythm, waiting patiently to get his grip right on what was a sweltering afternoon. While Verstappen struggled with softer tires, Hamilton had no trouble with his medium choice. And for Hamilton, it was another successful pole, despite hearing boos coming from some in the crowd.
Lewis Hamilton: I’ve never felt great with the booing. (But) I don’t mind it.
Bottas managed to improve his time, placing ahead of Verstappen, until seconds later when Hamilton clocked the top time of the day. For Bottas, it was his best result in a while. “Tomorrow will be exciting, the Red Bulls are on the soft tires, and we are on the medium, so it’s going to be a good battle.”
Verstappen, on the other hand, expressed a bit of dismay. “The whole weekend, we’ve been a bit behind, and it showed in qualifying. It’s going to be really hot, so a soft tire will not last as long as the mediums, but we should be good off the line.”
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez missed out on a chance to take a final flying lap for the top ten, as the Mexican could not take his final qualifying lap ahead of the checkered flag. The good news is that he still managed to take fourth. At the same time, Frenchman Pierre Gasly continued to improve in his Alpha Tauri, finishing in fifth. Lando Norris was sixth in the second McLaren, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc placed in seventh. Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso finished their Alpines in eighth and ninth, respectively, while Sebastian Vettel took tenth in his Aston Martin.
While Mercedes and Red Bull were competing head-to-head, at Haas, the story was different. Try as they might, the Haas mechanics worked right to the finish of the opening session, but to no avail.
Mazepin was joined by Williams drivers, Nickolas Latifi and George Russell, and Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda. It was the first time this season that Russel failed to advance from the opening round.
With 6:40 left in the second session, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. encountered understeer and crashed into the barriers at the final corner, bringing out a red flag, which lasted ten minutes. Sainz Jr. tried to move the car back to the pits but could only advance a few feet and had to stop the car altogether. Along with Sainz Jr., McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, and the two Alfa Romeo’s of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi exited the second session.
Despite his third-place position, Verstappen still holds an eight-point season lead. But that could change on race day.
