Hungarian GP qualifying: Lewis Hamilton takes comfortable pole
Lewis Hamilton comfortably claimed pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix, by beating Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg for the ninth time in 10 Formula 1 qualifying sessions this season
Rosberg complained about the handling of his car throughout the different stages of qualifying and couldn't recover sufficiently to put up much of a fight.
Hamilton and Rosberg were separated by 0.358s after the first runs in Q3, and the German ended up over half a second adrift of Hamilton, who set the fastest lap of the weekend so far on his final effort to claim his fifth career pole in Hungary.
The expected close fight for best of the rest behind Mercedes materialised, as less than half a second covered Ferrari, Red Bull and Williams in Q2.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel ultimately claimed third on the grid, but he ended up only 0.035s clear of the improved Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo.
The second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen finished up 0.246s further back in fifth, while Valtteri Bottas was fastest of the two Williams drivers in sixth.
The second Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat joined the second Williams of Felipe Massa on row four, just ahead of Max Verstappen's Toro Rosso, which only made one run in Q3.
Romain Grosjean's Lotus rounded out the top 10, over half a second adrift of the next fastest car.
Neither Force India made it through to the top-10 shootout, along with the second Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz and Pastor Maldonado's Lotus.
Hulkenberg and Sainz were less than a tenth away from Grosjean's 10th placed Lotus in Q2, while Perez was almost six tenths further back in 13th.
Maldonado was top-10 fast in Q1, but he locked up at Turn 1 on his final flying lap in Q2, which contributed to him missing Q3 by 0.804s.
McLaren headed into qualifying hoping to challenge for a place in the top 10, but could do no better than 15th and 16th after both drivers encountered technical trouble.
Fernando Alonso made it through to Q2, but stopped at the entry to the pitlane during his first run, bringing out the red flags and ending the Spaniard's session early.
An earlier problem with ERS deployment on Jenson Button's car meant the Briton missed the Q2 cut by lapping just over a tenth of a second shy of Sainz's Toro Rosso.
The Briton estimated his problem cost him 0.3s on his final flying lap.
The 2009 world champion joined the Saubers and Manors in dropping out during the first phase of qualifying.
Felipe Nasr felt he "lost it in the last two corners" and finished up 0.154s adrift of Sauber team-mate Marcus Ericsson, who felt he drove a good final flying lap in the sister C34.
Roberto Merhi comfortably out-qualified his team-mate Will Stevens by 0.533s, as the Manor cars filled their customary place on the final row of the grid.
HUNGARIAN GP GRID
Pos | Driver | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m22.020s |
2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 0.575s |
3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 0.719s |
4 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/Renault | 0.754s |
5 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1.000s |
6 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams/Mercedes | 1.202s |
7 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull/Renault | 1.312s |
8 | Felipe Massa | Williams/Mercedes | 1.517s |
9 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1.659s |
10 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus/Mercedes | 2.161s |
11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India/Mercedes | 1.806s |
12 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1.849s |
13 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 2.441s |
14 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus/Mercedes | 2.589s |
15 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren/Honda | - |
16 | Jenson Button | McLaren/Honda | 2.719s |
17 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber/Ferrari | 2.823s |
18 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber/Ferrari | 2.977s |
19 | Roberto Merhi | Marussia/Ferrari | 5.396s |
20 | Will Stevens | Marussia/Ferrari | 5.929s |
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