F1 Hungarian GP: George Russell secures maiden pole position

Mercedes’ George Russell pulled out a lap from nowhere to snatch away pole position from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen suffered car problems.

How Qualifying unfolded…

Q1

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was the first driver to leave his respective garage, to start qualifying in Hungary. The Canadian was quickly followed by the likes of both Haas’, Alfa Romeo’s and his teammate, Sebastian Vettel.

The quick action to get out on track, from most of the field, was likely down to the dark cloud which looked to be on its way and looked to have the potential for a heavy downpour.

Haas’ Mick Schumacher became the first driver to have his lap time deleted as the German driver exceeded track limits on his first timed run.

With 10 minutes left to go of Q1, both Verstappen topped the timing board with a 1:18.792, 0.326 seconds faster than his Mexican teammate, Sergio Perez (P2) and Mercedes’ George Russell (P3).

However, for Ferrari, Carlos Sainz could only manage to top P5 on his initial run while Charles Leclerc only managed to go 11th fastest before he was knocked down to P12 by Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda – who went up to P11. But, the Japanese driver was soon demoted down to P19 for a track limit violation.

It wasn’t long before the Monegasque cleared the drop zone as his lap time improved to put him P3, just behind the #55 Ferrari of Sainz who had improved to P2.

Due to the earlier downpour, it meant the track was constantly improving which allowed Mercedes to put in a one-two finish for Q1 with Sir Lewis Hamilton on top with a 1:18.374, 0.033 seconds faster than his teammate, Russell.

Eliminated:

20. Nicholas Latifi, Williams

19. Pierre Gasly, Alpha Tauri

18. Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin 

17. Alexander Albon, Williams

16. Yuki Tsunoda, Alpha Tauri

Q2

When the pit exit light returned to green, both Haas’ were the first drivers to get back out on track followed by both Mercedes. Naturally, Magnussen was the first to set a lap time on the board but this was soon beaten by Hamilton who suffered a small lock up on his initial timed lap, into turn one.

By the end of the first set of timed runs, Verstappen jumped to the top of the timing board as the Dutchman almost went into the 1:16’s, 0.418 seconds faster than McLaren’s Lando Norris who secured the second-fastest time.

Verstappen’s teammate, Perez put in a lap which placed him P3 after Norris and Verstappen beat the Mexican’s time. However, the Mexican driver allegedly exceeded track limits at turn five which – ultimately – deleted his lap.  But, after a revaluation on the incident, race control reinstated Perez’s lap time after they believed he was within track limits.

With under five minutes left on the clock, the top Verstappen remained at the top ahead of Leclerc and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso who were P2 and P3 respectively.

Further down the field, Schumacher was at the bottom of the elimination zone 0.834 seconds behind 10th-paced Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo), behind the likes of Stroll and Magnussen who were P14 and P13 respectively.

By the time the chequered flag fell, to end Q2, Guanyu Zhou found himself within the elimination zone while Stroll and Magnussen failed progress to Q3.

Eliminated:

15. Mick Schumacher, Haas

14. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

13. Kevin Magnussen, Haas

12. Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo

11. Sergio Perez, Red Bull

Q3

As the pit exit light went green, to start the final qualifying session, all 10 drivers ventured out onto the circuit with both Leclerc and Verstappen on fresh sets of, red-ringed, soft compound tyres.

Last years Hungarian race winner, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was the first driver to set a lap time but this was soon beaten by both Ferraris with Sainz on top of the timing board, ahead of Leclerc in P2, with a 1:17.505. By the end of the first runs, the top four stood;;

1. Sainz, 1:17.505
2. Russell, +0.463
3. Leclerc, +0.480
4. Hamilton, +0.637

By the half way point of the session, and first laps in the bag, all of the drivers returned to the pit lane to prepare for their second set of qualifying runs.

With just under four minutes on the clock left, Ocon was the first driver to return to the Hungaroring while Both Mercedes waited until the last seconds before they returned to the track, the last to do so.

Red Bull’s qualifying session went from bad to worse, after Perez ‘s early departure in Q2, as Verstappen came over his team radio and reported a loss of power.

Sainz’s time looked good enough to secure his second pole position, as Leclerc finished P2 at best and Verstappen couldn’t improve his time due to problems.

However, but Russell pulled a lap out of nowhere to secure his maiden pole position!

Top 10:

10. Max Verstappen, Red Bull

9. Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren

8. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo

7. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

6. Fernando Alonso, Alpine

5. Esteban Ocon, Alpine

4. Lando Norris, McLaren

3. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

2. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

1. George Russell, Mercedes

Is this the motivation Mercedes needed to going into the summer break?#F1 | #HungarianGP | #HungaryGP

— Apex Motorsports (@ApexMSPRT) July 30, 2022

That’s it for the article: F1 Hungarian GP: George Russell secures maiden pole position! With the grid set, who do you think will win the race tomorrow? Let us know in the comments!

Read more Formula 1 here!

• F1 Hungarian GP: Latifi tops practice session for first time
• Drive It Out: F1 launch initiative to remove abuse
• F1 Hungarian GP: Leclerc top in FP2 ahead of Norris
• F1 Hungarian GP: Sainz tops first practice ahead of Verstappen

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