Lewis Hamilton takes his first pole position in two years
Lewis Hamilton takes his first pole position since December 2021 with scintillating lap in Hungary – as he pips rival Max Verstappen – but Mercedes team-mate George Russell will start down in 18th
- Lewis Hamilton beat Max Verstappen in Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying
- It is his first pole position since the penultimate race of the 2021 season
- Hamilton snatched pole by just 0.003 seconds with the final lap of the session
- Lando Norris led team-mate Oscar Piastri to an all-McLaren second row
At last! Lewis Hamilton rolled back the years to take a stunning pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
He did so by 0.003sec from Max Verstappen – the juggernaut stopped for once. The Dutchman will start the 70-lap race in second place, ahead of Lando Norris.
On a tight and twisting track on which he had won a record eight times, Hamilton delivered a brilliant performance – his first pole for 595 days, going back to Saudi Arabia, the race before the night that tipped his life upside down in Abu Dhabi a week later.
‘Get in there, lets go boys!’ said Hamilton over the radio. ‘That feels so good guys. Thank you so much for all the hard work. Wahoo!’
It was the Briton’s ninth pole here in Budapest – more than any driver has achieved at any other single track.
Lewis Hamilton rolled back the years to take a stunning pole position at the Hungarian GP
Hamilton claimed his first pole in two years with a brilliant final lap on Saturday
Lando Norris (left), Hamilton (centre) and and Max Verstappen made up the top three
TOP 10
1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
3. Lando Norris (McLaren)
4. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
5. Zhou Gunayu (Alfa Romeo)
6. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
7. Valtteri Botas (Alfa Romeo)
8. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
9. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
10. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
Hamilton stood on his car afterwards and raised both fists to the air. He then shook hands with Verstappen.
Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who took pole here a year ago, endured an afternoon to forget. He was down in 18th as the seconds ticked down at the end of Q1 and needed to dig himself out.
But in trying to create space for a final tilt, he was overtaken by at least three cars, potentially hindering his path. So it proved. He was out.
‘It’s a sh**show,’ he screamed. ‘What was that? What was that? Don’t tell me we’re out.’
‘Yeah, affirm, P18,’ race engineer Marcus Dudley informed him.
‘F***ing hell,’ replied Russell. ‘Guys.’
Back at the Mercedes garage Toto Wolff slammed his fist on desk. Let the inquest begin.
Speaking on his return to the paddock, Russell said: ‘We were fast. The car felt great.
The whole session we were out of sync with everybody.
George Russell had a disaster as he crashed out in the first round of qualifying
Runaway championship leader Verstappen had to settle for second this time around
‘With the traffic, I was three tenths down before I got to Turn 1, the tyres were nowhere and it was totally normal that we went slower and didn’t make it through.
‘Really disappointed. We didn’t need to take so many risks. We went out for one lap at the end, one of the few cars that did that.
‘The car was more than quick enough to get to Q2 and Q3. It’s rare we make these mistakes. You get what you deserve if you don’t do things right.’
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz bombed out in Q2, eliminated by Leclerc’s final lap in a cruel twist for the Scuderia. The Spaniard was 0.002sec short.
Returning Australian Daniel Ricciardo did well on his AlphaTauri debut, outperforming the established Yuki Tsunoda. The 34-year-old ‘new boy’, who drove for the team in its former guise as Toro Rosso, qualified 13th while his Japanese team-mate was 18th best.
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