Max Verstappen took pole for the Hungarian Grand Prix, the Dutchman ecstatic at claiming the top spot for the first time. He did so for Red Bull with a flawless lap, although he was pushed to the very limit by the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas who was in second place. Lewis Hamilton was in third for Mercedes with Charles Leclerc in fourth for Ferrari, with his teammate Sebastian Vettel in fifth. Pierre Gasly was in sixth for Red Bull.
Now in his fifth season in F1 it has been some wait for his first pole but Verstappen took it in some style. He went quickest on his first hot run in Q3 with a time of 1minute 14.958seconds. He was almost two-tenths clear of Bottas in second and Hamilton in third. A mighty advantage to overcome but much as Bottas tried Verstappen found even more on his final lap.
Pushing his Red Bull to the edge, he was on another level on his last lap. It was superb, he went almost half a second quicker with a time of 1.14.572. Bottas followed him to within a hundredth of a second but could not match him. Hamilton, despite looking strong this weekend, was almost two-tenths back.
Leclerc, who crashed in Germany, made another error in Hungary. He lost the rear, too hot into the final corner and spun into the wall in Q1 taking damage. The team had to work on the car but his time was good enough to see him through to Q2 and he made it out into the second session. Remarkably his car was still able to put in good times with what the team called minor damage and he did well to take fourth. The 21-year-old Verstappen is the fourth youngest driver to claim a pole. It is also a strong result for the team and their new power unit supplier Honda in their 12th race together. It is the first pole for the engine manufacturer since they returned to the sport in 2015 and their first since Jenson Button took the spot at Australia in 2006.
Verstappen has not won the Hungarian Grand Prix before but has shown good pace all weekend at a circuit he was optimistic at which his team could perform strongly. Having won with a superb drive two meetings ago in Austria, been very competitive at Silverstone, then followed it with a fine win in the wet at Hockenheim, the Dutchman is on a roll of good form.
It continues a strong and very consistent opening to he season for Verstappen, who is third in the world championship, 63 points behind Hamilton and 21 in front of Vettel.
He has come close before but this time pulled off exactly what was required against stiff competition and Red Bull will be immensely pleased that they have managed to perform at track which they had targeted as playing to the aerodynamic strengths of their car. Verstappen will hope to take advantage and convert it to his first win at the Hungaroring.
Hamilton and Mercedes had expected their car to be strong on the slow and medium-speed corners of the Hungaroring and they looked to have the edge in practice. On Friday in the only dry session, Hamilton had been quickest from Verstappen. In the afternoon in the wet Gasly had been quickest in the limited running. However once more in the dry in final practice on Saturday morning Hamilton was on top in front of Verstappen.
However the Red Bull clearly had the balance and stability required for the frequent direction changes at the Hungaroring and Verstappen was able to exploit it when it mattered.
Verstappen was quickest in Q1 with Hamilton leading the way in Q2, where the top five all set the best times on the medium tyres with which they will start the race.
Lando Norris was once again in superb form for McLaren claiming seventh place, with his teammate Carlos Sainz in eighth. The Haas of Romain Grosjean was in ninth with Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen in tenth.
Renault’s Nico Hülkenberg went out in 11th, in front of Alexander Albon and Daniil Kvyat for Toro Rosso. Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi was in 14th place but is under investigation for impeding Lance Stroll. Kevin Magnussen was in 15th for Haas.
Williams, having finally brought the aero upgrades they have been waiting for all season to Germany, saw them pay off in Hungary with George Russell in 16th. It was a superb run, under a half a tenth behind Grosjean in 15th during Q1 and the first time Williams have not been slowest on track in qualifying this year. His teammate Robert Kubica could not match him, finishing in 20th. Segio Pérez was in 17th for Racing Point with his teammate Stroll in 19th. Daniel Ricciardo went out in 18th for Renault.