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Grand Prix qualifying results: Hamilton takes Hungary F1 pole

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring – the 11th round of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship season.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12

Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Hamilton will start ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull's Max Verstappen after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying results: Hamilton on pole from Bottas

Cla Driver Chassis Time Gap
1 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'15.419  
2 Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1'15.734 0.315
3 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 1'15.840 0.421
4 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 1'16.421 1.002
5 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 1'16.483 1.064
6 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 1'16.489 1.070
7 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'16.496 1.077
8 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 1'16.653 1.234
9 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 1'16.715 1.296
10 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 1'16.750 1.331
11 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 1'16.871 1.452
12 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1'16.893 1.474
13 Finland Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 1'17.564 2.145
14 Italy Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1'17.583 2.164
15 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari    
16 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1'17.919 2.500
17 United Kingdom George Russell Williams 1'17.944 2.525
18 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams 1'18.036 2.617
19 Russian Federation Nikita Mazepin Haas 1'18.922 3.503
20 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas    

What happened in Q1?

Bottas set the initial benchmark at 1m16.610s, which was quickly beaten by Hamilton with 1m16.424s and then Verstappen on 1m16.214s, which put him two tenths clear of the Mercedes duo.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr was fourth fastest, but could be in trouble for impeding at Turn 1 after his team sent him out into some fast-lap traffic. 

Falling at the first hurdle were AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, Williams duo George Russell and Nicholas Latifi, and the Haases of Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher, the latter failing to run after his big crash in FP3.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Hungarian Grand Prix Q1 results: Verstappen fastest from Hamilton

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval
1 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 3 1'16.214    
2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 6 1'16.424 0.210 0.210
3 Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 6 1'16.569 0.355 0.145
4 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 3 1'16.649 0.435 0.080
5 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 3 1'16.874 0.660 0.225
6 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 6 1'17.038 0.824 0.164
7 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 5 1'17.081 0.867 0.043
8 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 5 1'17.084 0.870 0.003
9 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 6 1'17.105 0.891 0.021
10 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 3 1'17.123 0.909 0.018
11 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 5 1'17.233 1.019 0.110
12 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 3 1'17.367 1.153 0.134
13 Finland Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 9 1'17.553 1.339 0.186
14 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 7 1'17.664 1.450 0.111
15 Italy Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 9 1'17.776 1.562 0.112
16 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 8 1'17.919 1.705 0.143
17 United Kingdom George Russell Williams 8 1'17.944 1.730 0.025
18 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams 8 1'18.036 1.822 0.092
19 Russian Federation Nikita Mazepin Haas 9 1'18.922 2.708 0.886
20 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas 0      

What happened in Q2?

In Q2, the pole position hunters used medium tyres on their first runs. Hamilton produced 1m16.553s, a time that Verstappen couldn’t match by two tenths. Bottas was third, ahead of the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez.

Those seeking a spot in Q3 on soft tyres then intervened, with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel going third ahead of Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri. Fernando Alonso went third for Alpine, just 0.3s off the pace.

Charles Leclerc then took P2 for Ferrari, seconds before team-mate Sainz lost control at the final corner and slammed into the tyre wall, causing a red flag.

At the restart, Verstappen ditched his mediums for softs, dropping the P1 time to 1m15.650s. McLaren’s Lando Norris jumped up to P2, ahead of Gasly, Perez and Alonso. Hamilton was sixth, ahead of Leclerc and Bottas – crucially, both Mercedes will start the race on medium tyres.

Knocked out at this point were McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo (by 0.077s), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), the Alfa Romeos of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi, and Sainz.

Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL35M

Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL35M

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Hungarian Grand Prix Q2 results: Verstappen fastest, Sainz crashes

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval
1 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 8 1'15.650    
2 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 6 1'16.385 0.735 0.735
3 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 6 1'16.394 0.744 0.009
4 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 6 1'16.443 0.793 0.049
5 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 6 1'16.541 0.891 0.098
6 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 6 1'16.553 0.903 0.012
7 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 6 1'16.574 0.924 0.021
8 Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 6 1'16.702 1.052 0.128
9 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 6 1'16.766 1.116 0.064
10 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 6 1'16.794 1.144 0.028
11 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 6 1'16.871 1.221 0.077
12 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 6 1'16.893 1.243 0.022
13 Finland Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 6 1'17.564 1.914 0.671
14 Italy Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 3 1'17.583 1.933 0.019
15 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 2      

What happened in Q3?

In the top-10 shootout, Verstappen set the bar in the first runs at 1m15.984s with Bottas beating that with 1m15.734, and then Hamilton taking provisional pole at 1m15.419s – over half a second up on Verstappen in third, who was unhappy with the level of grip on this set of tyres. Perez was fourth, ahead of Leclerc.

On the second runs, track conditions appeared to be worse as only Verstappen improved to 1m15.840s, but that wasn’t enough to move up from third. Hamilton thus took pole by three tenths over Bottas. Perez was fourth, but didn’t make line in time for his second run due to Hamilton holding up the Red Bulls on the out lap.

Gasly will start fifth, ahead of Norris, Leclerc, Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Alonso and Vettel.

Hungarian Grand Prix Q3 results: Hamilton takes pole

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval
1 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 6 1'15.419    
2 Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 6 1'15.734 0.315 0.315
3 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 6 1'15.840 0.421 0.106
4 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 5 1'16.421 1.002 0.581
5 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 6 1'16.483 1.064 0.062
6 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 6 1'16.489 1.070 0.006
7 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 6 1'16.496 1.077 0.007
8 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 6 1'16.653 1.234 0.157
9 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 6 1'16.715 1.296 0.062
10 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 3 1'16.750 1.331 0.035

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