Hungary Formula One – F1 – Hungarian Grand Prix 2016 – Hungaroring, Hungary – 23/7/16 Mercedes’ …
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The session was far less joyous for Hamilton, having been 0.4 seconds faster than Rosberg in the first sector of his final quick lap before being forced to abort.
Nico Rosberg rode his luck to grab pole position for Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix ahead of Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in a prolonged qualifying session punctuated by rainstorms and red flags.
World champion Lewis Hamilton was fourth behind Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, 0.508 seconds adrift of Rosberg.
The stewards’ verdict ensures he retains his shot of taking the fight to the two Mercedes cars.
‘Nico only lost a tenth through the corner so if that’s really what we’re allowed to do in future on double yellows, where I thought you had to pay more caution, that’s now different for all us drivers.
Overtaking is notoriously hard at the Hungaroring but Hamilton is still hopeful of beating Rosberg in the race and claiming the championship lead for the first time this season. With Q1 going on for over 70 minutes, this was one of the longer qualifying sessions we’ve witnessed in recent times (save for the rain soaked US GP last year). The Mercedes pair looked solid to the end – but Hamilton was distracted in the final lap as Alonso spun off, bringing out the yellow flags.
“There were double waved yellows but I had a very, very big lift and I lost a lot of time as a result and I was also slower than on my previous lap in that yellow sector or segment so I am sure it will be OK”.
“I was pretty angry on that last lap because I was up a bit and I think it would have put me closer to pole”, Ricciardo said.
Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, both of Red Bull, were third and fourth fastest respectively while Sebastian Vettel qualified fifth.
As the sun emerged, Q2 was played out on a drying track, and Hamilton must consider himself somewhat fortunate to have progressed to Q3 after ending up in 10th following a mistake at turn one. “I am just looking forward to the race now because of the pole position and I’ve been really feeling good out there the whole weekend”.
The opening 18-minute session was then interrupted by four more red flags, first as the rain returned and then as several drivers, including Williams’s Felipe Massa, crashed out.
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Spaniards Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso start sixth and seventh with Jenson Button, Nico Hulkenberg and Valtteri Bottas rounding out the top 10.
