Sebastian Vettel stormed to pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix, backed up by team-mate Kimi Räikkönen, as Ferrari won the battle against main rivals Mercedes and Red Bull. Vettel posted a 1:16.276 at the beginning of the decisive Q3 phase, lowering the Hungaroring lap record even further.
He narrowly failed to improve with his final effort, by two-thousandths, but still finished 0.168s clear of Räikkönen, who recovered from a sluggish first run.
Valtteri Bottas was the fastest of the Mercedes drivers in third. Lewis Hamilton complained of tyre vibrations throughout qualifying.
Hamilton endured several offs, ultimately taking fourth.
Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were closely matched in fifth and sixth, as Red Bull lacked around half a second to pole, having initially set the pace on Friday.
Nico Hülkenberg led the chasing pack in seventh, ahead of the McLaren-Hondas and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz Jr. But he will drop five places due to a gearbox penalty.
Stoffel Vandoorne threatened to out-qualify Fernando Alonso for the second straight Grand Prix, only to drop three-tenths back as the pole shootout developed.
Jolyon Palmer missed the Q3 cut in 11th, though will start ahead of the penalised Hülkenberg. Both Force Indias also fell, Esteban Ocon and Sergio Pérez split by Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso). Hülkenberg is set to start 12th, just behind Ocon.
Haas had to settle for 15th and 16th on the grid, Romain Grosjean (Q2) ahead of Kevin Magnussen (Q1). Magnussen had an identical lap time to 15th-placed Pérez in Q1. But he dropped out, having posted his later.
Lance Stroll followed for Williams, which also fielded reserve driver Paul di Resta. He replaced Felipe Massa, who continued to feel ill through FP3.
Di Resta impressed as he quickly built up his speed over two runs to split the Sauber drivers and finish just under eight-tenths away from regular racer Stroll. He also ensured that he hit the 107 per cent mark, required to race.
INITIAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF QUALIFYING): A 48th career pole for Sebastian Vettel ? #Quali #HungarianGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/J3q2iQeRk6
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 29, 2017
