The rain pounded the Hungaroring early on Saturday but when it came to setting the grid for the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix, the clouds parted, the track dried out and George Russell pulled a rabbit out of the Mercedes hat to stun Ferrari for pole position.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was eliminated in Q2 and Max Verstappen had a power issue with his engine for his final run meaning he couldn’t make an honest run for pole so this left Max and Sergio starting 10th and 11th respectively. Ferrari saw an opportunity to pounce.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc struggled with his tires all Friday and Saturday and it looked as if his teammate, Carlos Sainz, was going to claim pole on their final runs but at the very last minute, George Russell threw down a stunner of a lap and nipped pole from the Scarlet Italian cars.
Where that pace came from deep inside the Mercedes garage is unclear as the team looked to be struggling with pace on Friday but George and his engineers found it and delivered the goods. The big question now is, do they have the outright pace and long-run pace to keep the Ferrari’s behind him?
Hungarian GP Qualifying Results:
| Pos | Name | Car | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1m18.407s | 1m18.154s | 1m17.377s |
| 2 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 1m18.434s | 1m17.946s | 1m17.421s |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1m18.806s | 1m17.768s | 1m17.567s |
| 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1m18.653s | 1m18.121s | 1m17.769s |
| 5 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 1m18.866s | 1m18.216s | 1m18.018s |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine-Renault | 1m18.716s | 1m17.904s | 1m18.078s |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m18.374s | 1m18.035s | 1m18.142s |
| 8 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1m18.935s | 1m18.445s | 1m18.157s |
| 9 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren-Mercedes | 1m18.775s | 1m18.198s | 1m18.379s |
| 10 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m18.509s | 1m17.703s | 1m18.823s |
| 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull | 1m19.118s | 1m18.516s | |
| 12 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1m18.973s | 1m18.573s | |
| 13 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1m18.993s | 1m18.825s | |
| 14 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1m19.205s | 1m19.137s | |
| 15 | Mick Schumacher | Haas-Ferrari | 1m19.164s | 1m19.202s | |
| 16 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri-Red Bull | 1m19.24s | ||
| 17 | Alex Albon | Williams-Mercedes | 1m19.256s | ||
| 18 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1m19.273s | ||
| 19 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Red Bull | 1m19.527s | ||
| 20 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 1m19.57s |
Let’s hope Ferrari doesn’t balls this opportunity up.
Well – about that…