2023-07-22 15:38:43
Lewis Hamilton will start a Formula 1 race from pole position on Sunday for the first time since December 2021. In qualifying at the Hungaroring in his Mercedes on Saturday, the Brit was a mere three-thousandths of a second faster than World Championship leader Max Verstappen in the Red Bull. For Hamilton, who is also Hungary’s record winner, it was the 104th career pole position – that’s a lone record. Third was Lando Norris in the McLaren.
“It’s been a crazy 18 months,” Hamilton said in the first interview. “I’m happy to be where I am now. The team worked so hard, we pushed so hard to get that pole.” He didn’t expect it, said the seven-time Formula 1 champion. “We struggled all weekend to find a good balance,” admitted Verstappen, but still dared to look positive: “We’re still second, but with the car we normally have, we should be in front.”
Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko had previously considered Hamilton. “Yesterday he was very fast on the individual laps, he was faster than us,” said the Styrian in the ServusTV interview. At the Hungaroring, this constellation is “particularly critical for Verstappen because overtaking is very, very difficult. It will be an interesting and tough race.” Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff didn’t want to speak of a real chance of victory because the Red Bull was much faster over longer periods. But the Viennese said: “We have a lion in the car, and when you wake up the lion, it’s incredible.”
Norris team-mate Oscar Piastri came fourth in the second McLaren, and Chinese Zhou Guanyu surprised in fifth in his Alfa Romeo. His stable rival Valtteri Bottas also reached the last qualifying section and took seventh place. World Cup runner-up Sergio Perez placed his Red Bull in ninth place.
Pirelli used a new tire allocation for the first time as a test, which might become the standard in the future. All racing teams have two sets of tires less available this weekend and had to stick to a specified sequence in qualifying. In the first qualifying section, the hardest rubber compound had to be used, in the second it was the turn of the medium rollers. Finally, the soft tires had to be mounted for the final qualification segment. The background is Formula 1’s efforts to become more sustainable.
Returnee Daniel Ricciardo was able to improve on the training sessions and place 13 in the AlphaTauri. He was better than his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who had to be content with 17th place on the grid. George Russell in the other Mercedes only managed 18th place following getting stuck in heavy traffic over the relatively short distance.
Before the eleventh round of the season on Sunday (3 p.m./live ServusTV and Sky), Verstappen leads the overall standings with a 99-point lead over Perez. The double world champion has recently won six races in a row and started from pole position five times in a row. Hamilton’s last win to date also dates from December 2021, when he beat Verstappen in Jeddah.
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