Mercedes dominate qualifying to lock out the front row at the Hungarian GP

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18 July 2020 at 14:34
Last update 18 July 2020 at 15:07
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  • Louis Shaw
  • Editor

Lewis Hamilton dominated qualifying at the Hungarian Grand Prix setting a 1.13.447 to take pole position for tomorrow's race. The Mercedes looked in a totally different league with Valtteri Bottas finishing just 0.107 behind his teammate to start the race in second. Racing Point also impressed and continued their strong weekend by locking out the second row. 

Q1

It was a frantic start to Q1 as the teams could see the rain clouds coming in and with a forecast predicting a 90% chance of rain, most drivers rushed to get a lap time in on the soft compound tyre before the heavens opened. 

The rain did not fall as hard as some had thought it would and much of Q1 was dry running with only small drops of rain falling from the clouds 

The big story from Q1 was the fact that both Williams drivers made it through to Q2. George Russell finished 9th after pushing his machine to the limit with Nicholas Latifi coming in 15th.  

Early on Mercedes continued to shine down on the rest of the grid and established their dominance but it was the Pink Mercedes of Racing Point who made the most of the track evolution with Sergio Perez topping the timesheet with his teammate Lance Stroll coming in behind him. 

Kimi Raikkonen struggled to make his car work and both Alfa Romeo’s failed to make it out of Q1 once again. All of the Ferrari powered cars struggled with both Haas drivers failing to make the cut. 

16. Magnussen

17. Kvyat 

18. Grosjean

19. Giovinazzi

20. Raikkonen


Q2

Mercedes and Racing Point headed out on the medium compound tyre hoping to do enough to get through and have the advantage for the race tomorrow. Hamilton set a blistering 1.14.261 to go fastest with Bottas coming in 0.269 behind him. 

The Racing Point weren't quite so fast on the medium rubber but did enough to scrape through to Q3 with Stroll coming in 7th and Perez 9th.

Albon continued to struggle with the consistency of his Red Bull and was unable to make it through to Q3 and showed his frustration over the radio. Neither Renault made it through along with the two Williams drivers. 


11. Ricciardo

12. Russell 

13. Albon

14. Ocon

15. Latifi

Q3

It was a new track record when Hamilton went over the line to set a 1.13.447 to go fastest in Q3 and take pole position. His teammate was 0.107 behind him and the narrative between the two Mercedes drivers continues to heat up. 

The Racing Point of Perez had a time deleted for exceeding track limits but came back to finish 4th but it was his teammate Lance Stroll who was the better driver and took 3rd place. 

The grid was very much split from the top but the Ferrari's improved from their efforts over the past few weeks to start 5th and 6th.

Here's how they line up for the start of the race tomorrow:

1. Hamilton 

2. Bottas

3. Stroll

4. Perez

5. Vettel

6. Leclerc

7. Verstappen

8. Norris

9. Sainz

10. Gasly