The Englishman George Russell takes his first pole position in the exciting final practice session for Hungary at the Hungaroring. The 24-year-old Mercedes driver: “I can hardly believe it myself.”
Everyone was talking about Ferrari being virtually unbeatable on a dry track, now that – young Englishman George Russell’s first pole position, this in his 73rd final practice session in the premier class. The 24-year-old Mercedes driver is the 105th driver in Formula 1 to claim a pole position, the first driver since Carlos Sainz at Silverstone.
Russell’s previous best grid positions: second twice, at Sakhir 2020 (with Mercedes) and Belgium 2021 (with Williams). For Mercedes it is the 136th pole in Formula 1, the first this season and the first since Saudi Arabia 2021 and Lewis Hamilton.
Russell says after his sensational performance: “I still can’t really believe what just happened here. Above all, I’m happy for the whole team because every day I see how this team kneels in the work to get Mercedes back on the winning track.”
“We had a very difficult Friday yesterday, we were at the circuit until eleven o’clock in the evening to improve the car and to be honest we were tearing our hair out about how to sharpen the silver arrow. Morale was pretty low, we felt lost. And 24 hours later we are in pole position – unbelievable!»
“There are no points for pole, but what happened today is so good for the morale of the whole team. I guess we got the car in the perfect working window on the last lap. In the first sector I was significantly faster than before, and then in the second sector too, it just went like clockwork.”
“When you’re on a lap like that, everything almost happens by itself. And this with a car that I still had my hands full with in the third practice session. It’s all about the details in Formula 1 and we managed to get everything perfect on that one lap.”
“It’s an incomparable feeling, I felt something like that in Formula 1 for the first time when we finished second on the wet track with Williams in Belgium in 2021.”
«It is precisely for such goose bumps moments that I am a racing driver. Once you’ve experienced something like this, you want to savor this feeling over and over again. That’s what I live for.”
What happens in the race? George: «I haven’t the slightest clue. We turned the car’s set-up upside down after the messed up Friday and when I go to the track on Sunday it’s a journey into the unknown. Especially since the conditions on Friday and Sunday are not comparable. But I’m a racer – and if you can start from first place on the grid, then of course you want to win, that’s obvious.”
Qualifying, Hungaroring
01. George Russell (GB), Mercedes, 1:17,377 min
02. Carlos Sainz (E), Ferrari, 1:17.421
03. Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, 1:17,567
04. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, 1:17.769
05. Esteban Ocon (F), Alpine, 1:18,018
06. Fernando Alonso (L), Alpine, 1:18.078
07. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, 1:18,142
08. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Alfa Romeo, 1:18,157
09. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), McLaren, 1:18.379
10. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, 1:18,823
11. Sergio Perez (MEX), Red Bull Racing, 1:18.516
12. Guanyu Zhou (RC), Alfa Romeo, 1:18,573
13. Kevin Magnussen (DK), Haas, 1:18.825
14. Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin, 1:19,137
15. Mick Schumacher (D), Haas, 1:19,202
16. Yuki Tsunoda (J), AlphaTauri, 1:19,240
17. Alexander Albon (T), Williams, 1:19,256
18. Sebastian Vettel (D), Aston Martin, 1:19,273
19. Pierre Gasly (F), AlphaTauri, 1:19.527
20. Nicholas Latifi (CDN), Williams, 1:19,570