Verstappen finally grabs maiden pole at Hungaroring for ascendent Red Bull; Bottas bests Hamilton P2 to P3; Ferrari trails
Red Bull’s phenom Max Verstappen finally came good with his first career pole position during Saturday qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Despite having seven F1 GP victories already under his belt by the age of 21 pole position has eluded him in this Mercedes dominated era. Not any more. The Dutch wunderkind blistered the Hungaroring to the tune of 1:14.572, shattering the lap record and besting the next closest competitor, Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, by a slim .018. Although it may be too late to do anything about Mercedes hegemony after their mostly dominant first half this year Verstappen and Red Bull are showing signs of challenging the inconsistent Ferrari for second in the Championships. Young Max has won two of the last three Grand Prix, including his masterclass at the rain-soaked Hockenheimring last weekend, and the RB15 with him behind the wheel is clearly on the ascent. Ferrari and Mercedes had better watch out.
Bottas’ P2 was a welcome respite after whispers have begun about his future at the Mercedes factory team after crashing out in Germany last week. That he grabbed the second spot on the front row at the expense of his teammate Lewis Hamilton, who could do no better than a P3 start on the grid, was all the more satisfying for the Finn. Hamilton will line up in Row 2 alongside the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, who recovered after spinning his Prancing Horse firmly into the barrier on the exit of the last turn in Q1 to qualify in P4. Leclerc is another star driver who, like Hamilton and Bottas, will be looking for redemption after a miserable time of it in Germany last race. Leclerc’s teammate Sebastian Vettel, who conversely had a terrific run from last to P2 in Hockenheim, could do no better than the fifth fastest lap in qualifying. The second Red Bull of Pierre Gasly was once again well behind his team leader in P6. But McLaren’s Lando Norris out-performed expectations with a very solid P7 time.
The other McLaren of Carlos Sainz was P8, proving that the team have finally found consistent pace for the first time in years. Rounding out the top 10 qualifiers, Romain Grosjean drove his older-spec Haas up into P9 and the Alfa-Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen will start P10.
Top 10 qualifiers for the Hungarian GP:
| POS | DRIVER | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:15.817 | 1:15.573 | 1:14.572 | |
| 2 | 1:16.078 | 1:15.669 | 1:14.590 | |
| 3 | 1:16.068 | 1:15.548 | 1:14.769 | |
| 4 | 1:16.337 | 1:15.792 | 1:15.043 | |
| 5 | 1:16.452 | 1:15.885 | 1:15.071 | |
| 6 | 1:16.716 | 1:16.393 | 1:15.450 | |
| 7 | 1:16.697 | 1:16.060 | 1:15.800 | |
| 8 | 1:16.493 | 1:16.308 | 1:15.852 | |
| 9 | 1:16.978 | 1:16.319 | 1:16.013 | |
| 10 | 1:16.506 | 1:16.518 | 1:16.041 |
Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.
Tomorrow’s race, the last before the big summer hiatus, airs live on ESPN2 beginning at 9AM here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out of Verstappen can once again take it to the Formula 1 super powers and drive Red Bull back into the conversation when we talk about elite teams.