Wild Qualifying has come to be the norm in recent weeks and today’s action at the Hungaroring was no exception. Come with me below the fold to see how it all went down…
Rosberg grabs another Pole in Hungary in wild Qualifying session; Vettel shows old form for second, Bottas strong again for at 3rd
It was a tale of two Mercedes in dicey conditions at the Hungaroring for Saturday Qualifying. Drivers’ Championship points leader Nico Rosberg took Pole right at the death of Q3, snatching it away from Red Bull’s surging Sebastian Vettel by under half a second. Meanwhile his main rival and teammate Lewis Hamilton saw his engine let go in fiery fashion early in Q1 and the Englishman will have to fight his way through the field from the back of the pack for a second straight week. And while Hamilton was superb in Hockenheim last week passing car after car to take 3rd overall, such a performance will be a bigger ask in Hungary tomorrow where overtaking is extremely difficult. The excellent young Finn Valtteri Bottas was able to take 3rd on the grid with yet another superb effort for the rejuvenated Williams team. Vettel’s Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo also had another strong run to snag 4th, a mere .04 behind Bottas.
As rain spattered the track at the beginning of Q3, Rosberg narrowly averted disaster after hydroplaning on slicks at the end of Turn 1. McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen was not as lucky as he became a passenger and crashed heavily into the tire barrier. Magnussen walked away but the car was a write off and brought out the Red Flag. But this delay enabled the weather to clear out for the most part and the drivers returned to the track still on slick tires. Such mixed conditions not only favored the very skillful Vettel but also Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who took his characteristic 5th position, and the surviving McLaren of Jenson Button who over performed to come home 7th. Sandwiched between them was the other Williams of Filipe Massa who can only hope that having crashed out of the last two Grand Prix and starting from 6th he will see more than one lap of action come Sunday. Weirdly, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen saw himself sitting in the pits in Q1 while Marussia’s Jules Bianchi knocked him out. The team had thought his time secure but obviously that was a huge and uncharacteristic mistake from the Scuderia. The veteran Finn, who has had a tepid season at best, will start from a lowly 17th.
Rounding out the top 10, Jean-Eric Vergne was 8th for Torro Rosso, Nico Hulkenberg took 9th for Force India and Magnussen will start 10th despite his shunt.
Top 10 times here:
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:25.227 | 1:23.310 | 1:22.715 | 20 |
| 2 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:25.662 | 1:23.606 | 1:23.201 | 16 |
| 3 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1:25.690 | 1:23.776 | 1:23.354 | 19 |
| 4 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:25.495 | 1:23.676 | 1:23.391 | 18 |
| 5 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:26.087 | 1:24.249 | 1:23.909 | 17 |
| 6 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1:26.592 | 1:24.030 | 1:24.223 | 19 |
| 7 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:26.612 | 1:24.502 | 1:24.294 | 21 |
| 8 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Renault | 1:24.941 | 1:24.637 | 1:24.720 | 19 |
| 9 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:26.149 | 1:24.647 | 1:24.775 | 22 |
| 10 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:26.578 | 1:24.585 | 13 |
Complete Qualifying results at Formula1.com.
With the possibility of more rain tomorrow race day should be an intriguing one, especially with Hamilton attempting to charge his way from back to front. The Hungarian Grand Prix airs live Sunday morning starting at 7:30 AM on CNBC in the US. It’s also the last race before the big summer break so catch it if you can!