Lewis Hamilton took pole position ahead of the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix in a controversial move that saw him start his final lap by backing up the field and causing Red Bull Racing to suffer in its attempt to set pole. Now, Valtteri Bottas will sit second, with Max Verstappen starting the race immediately behind Hamilton in third.
Qualifying was set to be an important one this weekend after the post-Silverstone chaos that resulted from Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton’s first-lap collision. Grid position would be important — either to anticipate an accident similar to Silverstone’s or, hopefully, prevent one.
The only chaos with the session was the fact that Mick Schumacher of Haas didn’t participate. He had suffered a big crash in FP3 just before qualifying, and the team wasn’t able to fix his car to get him back on track.
George Russell of Williams was also knocked out in Q1 after an incredibly strong streak that saw him making it to, at least, Q2. It’s the first time Russell hasn’t made it to Q2 in 2021.
Eliminated In Q1
16. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
17. George Russell (Williams)
18. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
19. Nikita Mazepin (Haas)
20. Mick Schumacher (Haas)
In Q2, on the final corner, Carlos Sainz Jr. lost control of his Ferrari, and it crashed heavily into the barrier. The session was red flagged to allow for clean-up to take place. His car was still running, so he attempted to drive it back to the pits; unfortunately, he ran over his own front wing and was stationary.
The final seconds of the session were perhaps the most chaotic, as a final set of drivers attempted to get themselves out of the elimination zone. McLaren had two vastly different results, with Lando Norris securing second place overall and Daniel Ricciardo being knocked out after a disaster of a final lap.
Eliminated in Q2
11. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
12. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
13. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
14. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo)
15. Carlos Sainz Jr. (Ferrari)
The final session was set to be a spicy one, with both Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton driving slowly to sneak in one final lap before the checkered flag to nab that coveted front row. Sergio Perez unfortunately missed the checkered flag and wasn’t able to attempt a faster lap. Fans on social media speculated that Hamilton had held up the Red Bulls intentionally, resulting in a poor first sector for Verstappen and the inability to set a lap for Perez.
As it turned out, Hamilton managed to snag pole, with his teammate Valtteri Bottas starting on the front row alongside him. Verstappen will be starting in third, immediately behind Hamilton, which should make for a fascinating start to tomorrow’s Grand Prix.
Top 10 After Q3
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)
- Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing)
- Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)
- Lando Norris (McLaren)
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
- Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
- Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)
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