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Lewis Hamilton took pole at the Hungarian Grand Prix with a superb lap to beat Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas in second place and Bull’s Max Verstappen in third place. The Mercedes driver shone under the sun that bathed the Hungaroring with a lap his title rival could not match. Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez was fourth and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly fifth.
Verstappen opened the race in Q3 but suffered from a lack of grip from the start. Hamilton was huge behind him on track, beating his times in all sectors to set a time of 1 min 15.419 seconds, three tenths ahead of Bottas and a full half second over Verstappen.
In their hot second laps, Hamilton and Bottas came out first, after slowing down, supporting the Red Bulls, with Pérez not crossing the line in time to start his final lap, a tactic that will in no way improve the game. difficult relationship between the two. teams.
With a slow start to the lap, Hamilton and Bottas did not improve and Verstappen wasted only a tenth of his time. Mercedes had managed to lock down the front row with controversial tactics that fell just under the rules, which will leave Red Bull furious once again. Fans, swollen by many Dutchmen, booed the world champion after he got out of his car.
A fascinating competition is yet to come, however. Hamilton had his best time in Q2 on the medium tire while Verstappen did it on the soft, putting them on different race strategies, but the Dutchman enjoying the faster tire to start the race with the downhill slope. for a turn. The ideal racing strategy given the high temperatures is a medium to hard rubber one-stop.
Pole here was exactly the statement the world champion needed following the controversy over his British GP victory. He had been the fastest in qualifying at Silverstone but did not take pole, which was secured by Verstappen by winning the first F1 sprint race. The world champion however took the victory after a first round clash with his rival which ended Verstappen’s race. The two drivers are uncompromising and want to assert their point of view on the track. Hamilton’s intention to fight for the title is clear, a point he has emphatically emphasized in Budapest.
The British rider must convert pole into a victory to fight against Verstappen’s recent momentum and with the title fight now well placed. Following Verstappen’s retirement at Silverstone, his 33-point lead was reduced to just eight, while his side now lead Mercedes by just four points in the constructors’ championship.
After this 101st pole, if Hamilton takes the flag here, he will mark a unique double century with his 100th career victory and will remain in the fight for an eighth title which will break Michael Schumacher’s record.
Hamilton was rightly delighted with a result that had surpassed him in the majority of recent meetings. Mercedes had made improvements at Silverstone in hopes of closing the gap with Red Bull and they seem to have paid off. The high temperatures in Budapest allowed their car to bring their tires into their operating window and they made the most of it.
Lando Norris finished sixth for McLaren and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc seventh. Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso were in eighth and ninth for Alpine and Sebastian Vettel in 10th for Aston Martin.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz crashed at turn 14 in Q2 leading to a red flag and he finished 15th. Kimi Räikkönen was 13th for Alfa Romeo, with his teammate Antonio Giovinazzi 14th. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo was 11th.
Yuki Tsunoda was 16th for AlphaTauri, with Williams’ George Russell 17th and teammate Nicholas Latifi 18th. Mick Schumacher has not set a time for Haas after his crash in FP3 and will start from the back of the grid. His teammate Nikita Mazepin was 19th.
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