Hamilton debuts at the Grand Prix of Hungary

The Briton, leader of the F1 World Championship, won pole position number 77 in his career

The British Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), leader of the Formula One World Championship, will take the start of the Hungarian Grand Prix, the twelfth of the championship, after signing this Saturday under the rainy Hungaroring the sixty-seventh pole of his career, in a qualification. who claimed the Spanish Carlos Sainz (Renault), ignoring the pressure to finish fifth.

Hamilton, who had snatched the head of the German Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) last Sunday in Hockenheim, hit Saturday a new psychological blow that should be confirmed, if you want to take a step important to the fifth title, in the race of Sunday, the last before the holidays of a World Cup to resume end of August, to Spa -F Rancorchamps (Belgium)

Vettel – 17 points on the 188 with which Hamilton commands – who had achieved the fastest time on Friday's training day, was again the fastest this Saturday in the last free, dry test. And he scored the best partial both in the first (Q1) and in the second round (Q2) of a qualification that started with intermittent rain and electrical appliances; which evolved towards the intermediate tire and ended with rain tires, with abundant rainfall.

Circumstance which benefited the perfection Hamilton – whose five victories in Hungary are not equal – will sign his sixth pole at the Hungaroring, including 4.381 covered meters, at the decisive moment, in one minute, 35 seconds and 658 thousandths, 260 less than his Finnish partner Valtteri Bottas, who co-led with him a first row of Mercedes.

Ferrari, who was better on the dry, he had to settle for the second line, in which Finnish Kimi Raikkonen will start third, ahead of Vettel, who, like Hamilton, tries to emulate this year the Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio, whose five titles only surpbades, with seven, the German Michael Schumacher. Still convalescent of the serious ski accident that he suffered at the end of 2013 in Meribel (France). And his son, Mick, won the Formula 3 race on Saturday on the Belgian track of Spa-Francorchamps.

The Spanish Fernando Alonso (McLaren) could not fish in the river in trouble and was eliminated in Q2. The double Asturian world champion will celebrate his thirty-seventh birthday this Sunday from the eleventh place on the track where, in 2003, he signed the first of his 32 victories in the queen category. The 32 counts Spain in its history. On a track in which it is more than difficult to dub dry, Hamilton, who enjoyed the rain on Saturday, said he would not need during the race.

Next to Alonso, Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who was aiming high with his Red Bull, also missed the second round. The nice pilot of Perth will be alongside the Asturian genius, having qualified a post behind him. But, aside from Hamilton, the big winner of the day was Sainz. At the age of 23, he proved not only to have talent but also to cope with any situation of maximum pressure.

In Hungary, almost everyone gives the pbad to Renault of the French Esteban Ocon, that leaves in an uncertain situation the Madrileño, yielded to the French team by Red Bull, escudería with which contracted until the end of September. With all waiting for the possible announcement or not of Ricciardo's renovation with the Austrian team, Sainz had explained to Efe on Friday that he was "super-quiet". And this Saturday, he proved it by far, not only beating his German teammate Nico Hulkenberg (thirteenth), but standing just behind the two main teams, and in front of his former Dutch team-mate Max Verstappen, who a better car finishes seventh.

Sainz will start from the third row, next to Frenchman Pierre Gasly, who also surprised with his sixth place. Hamilton has shown, raising – in the rain – 77 his own record of "poles" and this Sunday will mark his sixty-seventh win in the queen clbad. With whom he would go on holiday thinking of Fangio.