Vettel pips Hamilton to Hungary pole position

Sebastian Vettel took his 8th pole position of the year for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

He came out on top after a climactic battle for top spot, with Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton both making mistakes on their final runs. Lewis was 2nd, ahead of his teammate Button. Alonso was beaten by Felipe Massa for the first time in 17 races. Here is the full report:

Q1

Ricciardo moved even closer to his teammate

All of the leading cars were easily able to use the prime tyres, to save a set for later.

Vettel went fastest, before being beaten by Hamilton, who was then knocked off the top by Alonso. Button, Massa and Webber were off the pace of their teammates.

Jarno Trulli’s new steering system was a success, allowing him to get within 5 tenths of Sebastien Buemi, who only used the prime tyres in Q1, and ended up 18th. After his grid penalty sustained in Germany, he will start 23rd.

Daniel Ricciardo was within 0.15 seconds of Vitantonio Liuzzi, who both were faster than Jerome D’Ambrosio.

Drivers knocked out in Q1:

18) Sebastien Buemi – 5-place grid penalty

19) Heikki Kovalainen – 1:24.362

20) Jarno Trulli 1:24.534

21) Timo Glock 1:26.294

22) Vitantonio Liuzzi 1:26.323

23) Daniel Ricciardo – 1:26.479

24) Jerome D’Ambrosio 1:26.510

Q2

Kobayashi was well beaten by Sergio Perez

Alonso once again led the way in Q2, setting a 1:20.262 on the super-softs.

Only two drivers failed to use the option tyres – Lewis Hamilton and Pastor Maldonado. Pastor didn’t set a lap, opting to save a set of tyres for tomorrow’s race. Lewis managed to get through to Q3 without using the super-softs.

Adrian Sutil, Vitaly Petrov and Sergio Perez managed to make it through to the shoot-out, at the expense of their teammates. Rubens Barrichello found no pace in the Williams, and finished 15th.

Drivers knocked out in Q2:

11) Paul di Resta – 1:22.258

12) Vitaly Petrov – 1:22.284

13) Kamui Kobayashi – 1:22.435

14) Nick Heidfeld – 1:22.470

15) Rubens Barrichello – 1:22.684

16) Jaime Alguersuari – 1:22.979

17) Pastor Maldonado – No time set

Q3

Vettel will be chased by the McLarens to the first corner

Despite having very little practice on the super-soft tyre, Hamilton quickly set the fastest time in Q3 – and was the first man to enter the 1:19 range. Vettel moved into 2nd, with Alonso 3rd.

Schumacher, Rosberg, Sutil and Perez stayed in the pits for the first part of the session. All of the cars went out in the final few minutes, with the exception of Perez.

Vettel and Hamilton traded fastest sectors, before a mistake on the final corner by Lewis allowed the Red Bull to take provisional pole. Alonso had a poor final lap, allowing himself to be beaten by Felipe Massa, for the first time in 17 races.

Jenson Button quietly moved into 3rd place, and will start on the clean side of the grid. Mark Webber was well off the pace, and will start 6th. Adrian Sutil split the Mercedes cars, finishing in 8th position.

Times in Q3:

1) Sebastian Vettel – 1:19.815

2) Lewis Hamilton – 1:19.978

3) Jenson Button – 1:20.024

4) Felipe Massa – 1:20.350

5) Fernando Alonso – 1:20.365

6) Mark Webber – 1:20.474

7) Nico Rosberg – 1:21.098

8 ) Adrian Sutil – 1:21.445

9) Michael Schumacher – 1:21.907

10) Sergio Perez – No time set