3 thousandths: Hamilton prevents the next Verstappen pole

In qualifying at the Hungaroring on Saturday, the Briton was a touch three thousandths of a second faster in his Mercedes than World Championship leader Max Verstappen in the Red Bull. For Hamilton, who is also Hungary's record winner, it was the 104th career pole position - that is a lonely record. Third was Lando Norris in the McLaren.

“It’s been a crazy 18 months,” Hamilton said in the first interview. “I’m happy to be where I am now. The team worked so hard.” The seven-time Formula 1 champion said he didn’t expect to be on pole position. Norris' teammate Oscar Piastri came in fourth place in the second McLaren, while the Chinese Zhou Guanyu surprised in fifth place in the Alfa Romeo. His stable rival Valtteri Bottas also reached the final qualifying section and took seventh place. World Championship runner-up Sergio Perez put his Red Bull in ninth place.

New regulation Pirelli used a new tire allocation for the first time as a test, which could become standard in the future. All racing teams have two fewer sets of tires available this weekend and had to adhere to a specified sequence in qualifying. In the first qualifying section the hardest rubber compound had to be used, in the second the medium rollers were used. The soft tires finally had to be fitted for the final qualifying segment. The background is Formula 1's desire to become more sustainable.

Returnee Daniel Ricciardo managed to improve in the AlphaTauri compared to training and achieved 13th place. This made him better than his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who had to be content with 17th place on the grid. George Russell only managed 18th place in the other Mercedes after getting stuck in heavy traffic on the relatively short route.

Before the eleventh round of the season on Sunday (15.00 p.m.), Verstappen leads the overall standings with a 99-point lead over Perez. The double world champion has recently won six races in a row and started from pole position five times in a row. Hamilton's last victory to date also dates back to December 2021, when he beat Verstappen in Jeddah.

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3 thousandths: Hamilton prevents the next Verstappen pole

Lewis Hamilton will tackle a Formula 2021 race from pole position on Sunday for the first time since December 1.

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