Sebastian Vettel claimed his eighth pole position of 2011 after an exciting qualifying battle with Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton was quickest in the first part of Q3 but Vettel’s final lap was enough to snatch pole pole position by a tenth of a second.
Q1
The six drivers in the top three teams were easily able to get through Q1 without having to use a set of super-soft tyres.
Vettel led the times initially before being knocked from the top spot by Lewis Hamilton.
But it was Fernando Alonso who set the fastest time in this part of the session with a 1’21.578.
That left both HRT drivers outside the 107% time. But improvements from Vitantonio Liuzzi and Daniel Ricciardo not only got them into the race, but relegated Jerome D’Ambrosio to last place.
Both Lotus drivers dropped out as usual, though Heikki Kovalainen was three-tenths of a second behind Sebastien Buemi.
The Toro Rosso driver, who already has a five-place grid penalty from the last race, did not use super-soft tyres and was knocked out by Pastor Maldonado on the Williams driver’s final lap.
Drivers eliminated in Q1
| 18 | Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’24.070 |
| 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Renault | 1’24.362 |
| 20 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Renault | 1’24.534 |
| 21 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’26.294 |
| 22 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | HRT-Cosworth | 1’26.323 |
| 23 | Daniel Ricciardo | HRT-Cosworth | 1’26.479 |
| 24 | Jerome d’Ambrosio | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’26.510 |
Q2
Alonso was fastest again in the second part of qualifying, lowering the best time of the weekend to a 1’20.262 on super-soft tyres.
Almost every other driver followed him in his choice with two exceptions. The first was Pastor Maldonado, who didn’t set a time.
The other was Hamilton who, unusually, progressed to Q3 without using a set of the softest tyres. His 1’21.105 was just a hundredth of a second slower than Vettel’s effort on super-softs.
Ahead of Vettel were Webber and Button, the latter second-fastest with a 1’20.578 set on super-soft tyres.
Drivers eliminated in Q2
| 11 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1’22.258 |
| 12 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1’22.284 |
| 13 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’22.435 |
| 14 | Nick Heidfeld | Renault | 1’22.470 |
| 15 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1’22.684 |
| 16 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’22.979 |
| 17 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Cosworth | No time |
Q3
Hamilton went into the final part of qualifying having done little running on the super-soft tyre. He aborted both of his runs on it in final practice and didn’t use it in Q1 or Q2.
That being so, his first lap on them in Q3 was even more impressive as he became the first man to lap the track in under 80 seconds.
He took provisional pole position off Alonso with a 1’19.978, much of his advantage coming in the final sector of the lap. Vettel claimed second, less than a tenth of a second behind Hamilton.
Schumacher, Rosberg and Sutil went out for their first runs, joined by the other six doing their second laps as the clock ticked down. Sergio Perez stayed in the pits, settling for tenth place.
Vettel and Hamilton traded fastest sector times in their final laps, and it was Vettel’s faster middle sector that proved decisive. Hamilton was fractionally quicker over the final third of the lap, but it wasn’t enough to keep Vettel from his eighth pole position of the year.
Button moved up to third and Massa claimed fourth, out-qualifying Alonso for the first time in 17 races by just three-hundredths of a second.
Webber, pole sitter in the last two races, could do now better than sixth ahead of the Mercedes-powered trio of Rosberg, Sutil and Schumacher.
Top ten in Q3
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’19.815 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’19.978 |
| 3 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’20.024 |
| 4 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1’20.350 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’20.365 |
| 6 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1’20.474 |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’21.098 |
| 8 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1’21.445 |
| 9 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1’21.907 |
| 10 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari |
2011 Hungarian Grand Prix
MinusTwo
30th July 2011, 14:16
I think Hamilton is going to dust him at the start. Will be interesting to see what Alonso does also.
Raj
30th July 2011, 14:20
Disappointing drive from alonso. Not sure whether massa picked up pace or alonso drove badly? But i think best alonso can hope is podium as it will be diff to overtake & he needs to rely on ferrari pit crew to jump any places considering there can be at least 3 pitstops. Nonetheless interesting qualifying & nice to see jenson up there. Need to see what he can do from second row. Looks like one more tight race on tomorrow.
Eggry (@eggry)
30th July 2011, 14:28
I think Alonso drove badly or was compromised. certainly first flying lap was compromised by Webber but was not improved at second run though I don’t know the reason. very disappointing.
jake
30th July 2011, 14:37
will be interesting to see if ferrari try to get webber a penalty as it did appear he affected him slightly compared to his Q2 time in that final sector
Eggry (@eggry)
30th July 2011, 14:42
I don’t think they would do though.
bananarama
30th July 2011, 14:44
I took another look at it and it looks like .. Alonso drove his outlap like a madman but then suddenly stopped and went very slow, as if he got too much heat into the tyres. Then a fantastic first sector and then the tyres died completely throughout the rest of the lap. His Q2 time would have put him 4th but well, good for Massa, this is the place he could use some cheering up.
Eggry (@eggry)
30th July 2011, 14:51
Nice theory. If it is true, Ferrari should run more tyre simulation…
bob80
30th July 2011, 14:23
I don’t think he will do it from dirty side.
S.J.M (@sjm)
30th July 2011, 14:35
it might be dirty, but its the better side for the 1st corner, should he be level or infront of Vettel. Who knows whats going to happen :D
Mike
30th July 2011, 23:38
Won’t matter if he’s third when he gets to the corner.
It’s a long way to turn one, and I think it would take a disaster from Button to see him behind Lewis after turn one.
jake
30th July 2011, 14:39
I think the advantage he has is that this year the Hungaroring has been used much more throughout the year. Also, with GP2 and GP3 using the same rubber, we may see less of a negative affect due to similar rubber being laid down beforehand.
Eggry (@eggry)
30th July 2011, 14:44
if there are amount of marbles certainly it wouldn’t help them. It makes track slippery.
jake
30th July 2011, 14:50
marbles don’t tend to form so much on straight, more the exit of faster corners. Also the grid is normally cleared of marbles before-hand. Yes it will be a disadvantage, it always is, but not so much as it has been in recent years. We certainly won’t be seeing a repeat of 03 when P1, 3, 5 and 7 were P1, 2, 3 and 4 by turn 1
Eggry (@eggry)
30th July 2011, 14:59
I agree with you about 2003.
alex
30th July 2011, 15:01
In a track where overtaking is almost impossible, the greatest of all times was made there: 1986
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzX4UySRmqQ&feature=player_embedded
davey (@djdaveyp87)
30th July 2011, 19:06
That was a bloody good move! Made even better by holding that powerslide!
DT
30th July 2011, 14:18
It looks like Lewis has a huge chance of winning tomorrow. His last lap was slower than the previous one becuase he run a wide in the last corner so clearly he could have been on pole.
The start will be crucial because lewis is on the dirtier side of the track so lets see how well Vettel can pull away plus Jenson a potential threat to Lewis. we are in for an exciting one. can’t wait!
suka (@suka)
30th July 2011, 17:49
Jenson has been equally good starter as Lewis is if not better. Plus being on the cleaner side, he could as well go ahead of Lewis which would help Vettel to get away since Jenson is not as good chaser as Lewis is. I would not like to see this but could make it all much more interesting.
Solo (@solo)
30th July 2011, 18:59
Yeah am kind of afraid that if Button(or even worse Massa) gets ahead of Lewis then Vettel will manage to get those seconds of comfort zone he needs to win in the usual way he did until now.
lewymp4 (@lewymp4)
30th July 2011, 20:11
Don’t forget about Fernando being in the mix, especially if Vettel attempts his sometimes not too succesful blocking moves at the start on Hamilton…..it should be very exciting.
Solo (@solo)
30th July 2011, 21:14
Well Alonso will be there abouts and Massa will probably make way if it’s the guy in-frond of him but from fifth i don’t see him winning the battle against three drivers for the second place
after the first corner.
Oh! after saying that it may actually happen because i said it wouldn’t.
BS
30th July 2011, 14:18
Great qualifying session. Was hoping for a non Red Bull on pole, but once again a superb lap from Vettel.
Can’t wait for the race tomorrow.
TommyB (@tommyb89)
30th July 2011, 15:51
About a month ago we were saying RIP Qualifying.
Now we’ve had two absolutely fantastic sessions in the last two. I hope this is a sign of Qualifying to come, that was brilliant.
BasCB (@bascb)
31st July 2011, 7:38
Fully agree with that Tom!
bananarama
30th July 2011, 14:19
Quite unhappy with this result. Hamilton will need the best start of his life from the dirty side to challenge Vettel. Button might even get to him. Alonso couldn’t improve on his Q2 anymore and his last set seemed to simply die throughout the lap, very weird. Good for Massa, 10 to 1 finally. Rsoberg and Sutil did well .. Schumacher really can’t get his car going in Quali, quite disappointing but hoping for the race.
bosyber (@bosyber)
30th July 2011, 14:37
Let’s just hope that if Button gets ahead of Hamilton, he also manages to take Vettel. His race pace has been good, so then at least he can also keep Vettel from running away and Alonso and Hamilton can take the fight to him.
S.J.M (@sjm)
30th July 2011, 14:38
Lewis was on the dirty side last week too, dont write him off of getting past just yet. Heck, if Vettel starts badly, who knows how many could pass him, to quote Murray Walker
“Anything can happen, and in Formula One, it usually does.”
Patrickl
30th July 2011, 14:42
I wouldn’t be surprised if Button takes the lead. Vettel will probably be too busy blocking Hamilton which should give Button a clear track to move past.
BasCB (@bascb)
31st July 2011, 7:39
That would be a bit of a dream scenario for an exiting race.
bananarama
30th July 2011, 14:54
Sure, thats true and I sure hope so. But if my memory serves me right, Hungarorings dirty side is one of the worst on the calendar. I’ll try to stay as optimistic as you :-P
UnitedKingdomRacing (@unitedkingdomracing)
30th July 2011, 15:19
Hasn’t Massa once took the lead into the first corner also from the dirty side in Hungary? I think it was in 2008. But also could be from third place i’m not sure.
David-A (@david-a)
30th July 2011, 15:49
It was from 3rd place (clean side).
Rob2
30th July 2011, 15:23
If button goes into the first corner in 1st place, we can expect a “Jenson, Lewis is faster than you” from Mclaren imo.
Craig Woollard (@craig-o)
30th July 2011, 17:27
No need… Lewis can actually overtake his teammate…
suka (@suka)
30th July 2011, 17:52
Has proved that a couple of times this year.
davey (@djdaveyp87)
30th July 2011, 19:09
I fact they can both overtake each other! One quality they both possess is great overtaking skills.
Leggacy
30th July 2011, 15:22
Not as unhappy as i am with this result. For the F1 fanatic predictions I had put Hamilton on pole on a 01:19.978. which is where he was right up until the last minute, when Vettel went and spoilt it for me. :(
ivz
30th July 2011, 14:21
Hope Hamilton and Alonso can at least get onto the back of Vettel by mid race distance.
Anyone else also notice how whenever Vettel gets pole, the Red Bull guys are jumping up and down with excitement and going crazy, then when Webber gets pole, there is only a few claps?
Zecks (@zecks)
30th July 2011, 14:25
thats cos the cameras are on vettel’s pitch crew in expectation of the pole.
good performance by perez to get to q3, and a very smart call saving the extra tires
ivz
30th July 2011, 14:34
The point I am making is that regardless of which side of the camera is on when Webber gets pole, its a much more quite celebration than when Vettel gets pole. And you don’t see Marko with a smile on his face when Webber is on pole.
Ben Curly (@ben-curly)
30th July 2011, 14:23
I think it should be “no better than sixth”.
Eggry (@eggry)
30th July 2011, 14:33
It sounds like he’s pole :D
David-A (@david-a)
30th July 2011, 14:23
Very good session. Vettel pulls it out of the bag at the right time again, but Hamilton still looks very strong. Button impressed me also, by sticking it in 3rd (when he usually struggles in quali). I’m happy for Massa, but on the dirty side of the grid could easily find himself swiftly eating Alonso’s dust.
The major disappointment of the session was Webber. After 2 great poles, the KERS issues clear up from his first run, but still ends up 0.6 off the pace. Dirty side of the grid + typical bad start = long Sunday afternoon (unless rain is involved).
Eggry (@eggry)
30th July 2011, 14:25
+if another KERS failure occur at the start = Disaster
dragon
30th July 2011, 14:27
Was probably two scruffy laps from Webber, but any suspicion they might have put more effort into Seb’s car in those extended hours than they did Mark’s?
ivz
30th July 2011, 14:37
There was no talk of Red Bull working on Webber’s car passed the curfew.
alex
30th July 2011, 14:40
Mclaren is really strong. Vettel made the difference, but I believe Mclaren are favourite for the race.
@HoHum (@hohum)
30th July 2011, 16:09
I think Kers may have let MW down on his run, commentators on speed were optimistic till finish showed no improvement,I think it was Massa that was instructed to save KERS for last corner.Will have to see sector times before we know.
@HoHum (@hohum)
30th July 2011, 16:25
Disregard above post,MW lost nearly half a second to Vettel in Sector 1 alone.What’s up with that?
bananarama
30th July 2011, 16:49
Sector one is mostly the long straight and then some massive acceleration .. exactly what you could use kers for.
@HoHum (@hohum)
30th July 2011, 20:10
Right,I was thinking of end of lap, but you would also need it for start of lap.Worrying.
tete
31st July 2011, 3:37
alonso was doing a really good lap until the final sector ,he was .150.200 tenths faster than provisional pole sitter hamilton ,then at the last sector he lost about .600 tenths ,which leads me to believe that either he made an error or the tires went completely off. if thetire went off then the macca team should be the ones more worried about.why? because the ferrari and the bulls are known for being kind with their tires, while the maccas not. go and watch most of the previous races,you will see that the maccas (especially hamilton)were the first ones to pit in most of them even in the German grand prix where it was very cold.
So to me the maccas will struggle tomorrow. i heard that hamilton will make one more pit stop than everyone else ,they know that their car will destroy the tires faster than all the other cars so for that reason they save a set of ss, and will try to make the least number of laps in each stint.
Eggry (@eggry)
30th July 2011, 14:23
Now I just wish Red Bull’s race pace is worse than others…that’s just only chance. or some incident? I know there’s not many pole to win in this venue but I expect this year is that rare case.
Adam
30th July 2011, 14:40
Calm down, the Red Bull has done absolutely nothing all weekend to suggest it can walk off with this, and it typically gets slower tomorrow.
Eggry (@eggry)
30th July 2011, 14:46
It’s also true that it’s very hard to overtake here…I hope tyre and DRS works well.
Adam
30th July 2011, 14:50
Even with limited overtaking there’s nothing to suggest Vettel can just drive off, so undercuts on the pit stops will be interesting if it comes to that.
mikef117
30th July 2011, 19:00
Does anyone know if Hamilton did his second flying lap on the same set of super softs as his first run?
I am wondering if he has an extra set of super softs over RB’s, and 2 sets up on the Ferraris. Might come in handy in the race.
Having taken the chance in Q2 and kept a set of super softs back he could have gone out on softs for his second run in Q3, and then started the race on them, thus being on a different strategy to the others and taken the lead by staying out longer (based on his Q2 time being only 0.1 second slower than his competition on super softs).
Eggry (@eggry)
30th July 2011, 23:50
considering difficulty to overtake and significant tyre wear, I don’t think extra set of super soft makes his race handy. it would help but just some.
tete
31st July 2011, 3:40
no ,he just saved one super soft but used one set of soft more than the other drivers. the red bulls and the ferrari’s only used one soft but used one super soft more than hamilton.
Mike
31st July 2011, 7:26
It’s a surprisingly large bonus. It basically makes his life a lot easier if he wants to jump someone with the undercut.
Eggry (@eggry)
31st July 2011, 8:06
well it’s only the case when he doesn’t pit more than rivals. that’s why high tyre wear is problem. even he’s faster than others for a while if he has to pit 1 more time, advantage goes nowhere.
S.J.M (@sjm)
30th July 2011, 14:24
Well, compared to last year, when i think the top teams were around 1.5sec off the Pole time, its not been a bad effort. And races are won on Sunday, not in qualy… Lewis having an extra set of S.Softs could swing this one. If only Vettel can get caughtout at the start!
Steph (@)
30th July 2011, 14:28
Yay for Massa for finally outqualifying Alonso at this track of all places! It was quite unexpected as he hadn’t seemed in Alonso’s league for the previous qualifying rounds.
bosyber (@bosyber)
30th July 2011, 14:41
Agreed, it looked like genuinely great lap from him, good to see he’s on Alonso’s speed.
Cynically speaking: at least now he can take points away from Alonso’s competitors.
Mads (@mads)
30th July 2011, 17:34
And from Alonso, so that is no good.
bananarama
30th July 2011, 21:56
Lets not get ahead of ourselves people .. Massa beat Alonso once in a year in quali and people are already discussing how Massa will be better than the spaniard and compete for the championship. Wow.
Mike
30th July 2011, 23:55
A good lap from Massa, though I’d be inclined it is more Alonso messing up than Massa pulling something from the bag.
@bananarama
Where did you read people saying that?
It certainly wasn’t in this thread.
sngt2
30th July 2011, 14:37
A little disappointing from Alonso.. on hes last flying lap he was 2 tenths up on hamilton’s time, then he had a terrible middle sector.. and the lost more time in the last. Well done to massa great lap. Hoping for hamilton an jenson to pass vettel at the start.
alex
30th July 2011, 14:43
As a Ferrari fan, I have seen Alonso making mistakes in such moments before.
I hope he can finish in top 3 tomorrow.
tete
31st July 2011, 3:44
alonso was up in the 2 sector. lost more than .6 tenths in the last sector, he either made a mistake or the tires completely went off.
TMAX
30th July 2011, 14:37
Yes Baby…That’s What I am talking about :)
David-A (@david-a)
30th July 2011, 14:45
LOL :)
Adam
30th July 2011, 14:37
So, Mclaren the quickest car here then, at the ultimate Red Bull track. Hamilton should have got poll, and Button managing 3rd.
What’s all that about?
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
30th July 2011, 14:41
Baaaah, what a dissapointing qualyfing from Mark. I hope the race tomorrow makes up for it because otherwise it’ll be a veeery long one.
F1 98
30th July 2011, 14:50
Hope finger man doesn’t win I interested to see what hamilton does
Joseph94 (@joseph94)
30th July 2011, 14:52
If Hamilton gets his usual good start, I think we can see Hamilton leads after turns 2&3. I predict it to be:
Hamilton, Vettel, Button after lap 3.
I expect Vettel to overtake Hamilton in the 1st pit stops. (Alonso moves up to 4th, maybe 3rd after 1st pit stops.
My prediction for the podium are as follows :-
1. Hamilton. 2. Vettel. 3. Alonso.
Button probably finsihing 4th and Massa finsihing 5th.
Webber 6th and Rosberg 7th. M.Schumacher 8th.
Petrov probably finsihing 10th.
(This is all if there is NOT a 1st corner incident between Vettel & Hamilton of course ;)
@HoHum (@hohum)
30th July 2011, 16:14
How about a first corner incident between rocket-starter Massa, Hamilton and Vettel?
tete
31st July 2011, 3:46
dream on. he might lose the position with button an alonso. the dirty side is one of the worst in f1.
dlaird
30th July 2011, 14:57
Should be a great race. Vettel gained over 4 tenths on the middle sector. Wow. I also believe that Hamilton has one more set of super softs seeing he did not use them in Q2. Don’t know if that will make a difference. I am just glad to see the qualifying closer now. Really was expecting redbull to dominate at hungary. I was sick of the redbulls qualifying a second faster in most of the first half. It is close now.
curedcat
30th July 2011, 15:31
Vettel gained just under a 0.2s not the 0.4s you stated .
Mads (@mads)
30th July 2011, 17:24
In the middle sector! They all increased their times in sector 3 and that is why he only improved by .2 seconds.
tete
31st July 2011, 3:48
yes ,he has one super soft,but one less soft than the others
KeeleyObsessed
30th July 2011, 15:00
On a different computer and can’t be bothered to log in…
Vettel did a sterling job to grab pole, but I don’t think he’ll be taking the chequered flag as easily… Hamilton has a set of unused options still, and I think that will play into his hands well for the race.
Unfortunatly, I won’t be seeing it cause I’m camping!
BBT (@bbt)
30th July 2011, 15:02
I missed the predict the result because of camping (got back at 1:20pm… most annoying. Enjoy camping.
OmarR-Pepper (@)
30th July 2011, 15:45
Oh no!!! I forgot to make my predictions yesterday!! Well, it isn’t going to get me the British tickets anyway, I’m on the 454th or somewhere like that. But my prediction was going to be this:
Pole Vettel (missed one point for sure!!!!)
results
1. Ham
2. Alo
3. Vet
4. Ros
5. Button
Well, then I’ll see tomorrow how many ponts I finally lose (or miss)
OmarR-Pepper (@)
30th July 2011, 15:47
Just to say how happy I am to see Vettel on Pole back again, and to see Masas beating Alonso YEAH … That’s what I’m talking about! (I know how much this expression annoys the 99.9% of not Vettel fans)
paul
30th July 2011, 15:46
my prediction for sunday is fernando leading after the first corner. vettel and lewis will be too busy trying to take each other off. buttons only interested in overtaking lewis. massa will block webber (team orders) and fernando will steam around them all.
boris the one-eyed toucan
31st July 2011, 1:52
Massa won’t bother blocking Webber as he’ll be hoping to be in the lead by the first corner.
Massa has been the fastest starter in the last few races but hasn’t found a clear lane yet: watch the starts at Valencia, Silverstone and last week and note how much faster he is than the cars in front but how he keeps getting blocked (which has allowed Alonso to stay in front of him each time).
With Hamilton and Button both both trying to take Vettel and all trying to stay on the clean side and all worrid about Alonso, Massa could finally find some empty road in front of him and just might storm up the inside into the first corner. And wouldn’t that be fantastic!
Jelle van der Meer (@)
30th July 2011, 15:47
If the race finishes as per the current grid a lot of drivers and teams will be out of contention mathematically after only 11 from 19 races.
Vettel will than again extend his lead to an amazing 89 points and Red Bull lead will be 112.
All but 7 drivers (3 top teams + Rosberg) will be out of contention.
The bottom 6 teams (Force India, Toro Rosso, Williams and 3 new teams) will be out of contention already
dfketr
30th July 2011, 15:48
Vettel is a bit like Ayrton Senna with his qualifying performances. today, he didnt have the best car, but stuck it on pole at the final moment, much like senna used to do. He already has 23 poles at 23 years of age. ho money by the times hes 30?
Hamilton on the other hand, who wants to be the next Senna, stuffed up his opportunity of having pole, the best opportunity so far this year, by crumbling on his last qualifying effort. He has the fastest race car for tomorrow, so he should still win but.
David-A (@david-a)
30th July 2011, 15:51
Vettel’s recently turned 24 ;)
tete
31st July 2011, 3:51
agree.people are saying the hamilton has the fastest car and yet again he lost the opportunity. He might regret it after the summer break where red bull and ferrari might be faster or as fast as the macca’s
DaveW
30th July 2011, 15:48
A champion’s lap from Vettel to snatch pole away from Hamilton—and to hold back the swelling tide of challengers now. It’s now him against Hamilton, Button, Alonso, Massa. Amazing story line now. Webber has dropped out of the picture, admitting the entire horde now to the gate.
I think Patrick has it right about the start. Vettel, per his habit, is going to line up pointing right and then do everything he can to block the next guy back, and Button and Massa may come streaming by them both.
If Hamilton gets by Vettel at the start, canceling out the RBR heavy fuel advantage, it will be hard to beat either McLaren. If not, Vettel may be able to “control” the race, desipite a predictable furious late race charge from McLaren and Ferrari.
mikef117
30th July 2011, 19:08
Maybe a champions lap but if he did it on brand new supersofts compared to Hamilton’s, which I suspect were already on their second flying lap, maybe not – especially if Hamilton does have an additional set of supersofts left for tomorrows’ race.
Tne interesting thing I think will be to see whether DRS makes it any easier to overtake in T1.
dfketr
30th July 2011, 20:37
hamilton made a mistake on his lap, and he has the car advantage this weekend so should have been ahead of vettel. vettel made no mistakes and got the most out of his car, hamilton didnt yet again.
David-A (@david-a)
30th July 2011, 21:13
+1. If it was Vettel that made a mistake on a flying lap, I can just see the horde of people on here talking about him not handling pressure. Vettel definitely driver of the day. We’ll have to wait and see what happens tomorrow.
tete
31st July 2011, 3:54
write fact. hamilton did it on new super soft.
just write facts!!!!
:)
unrealnoise
30th July 2011, 15:57
Wwhere to find the sector times of the qualifying at the f1fanatic? i can’t find it. pls help me
curedcat
30th July 2011, 16:09
http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/f1_media/Documents/hun-qualifying-sectors.pdf
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
31st July 2011, 10:57
2011 Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying analysis
Albanian Ferrari Fan
30th July 2011, 15:58
The only thing I hope for tomorrow’s race is Hamilton leading at turn 1. We’ve seen that Vettel gets under pressure if he’s not at the top, so it would be nice to see some action behind Hamilton rather than a dull Vettel-leading race.
sumedh
30th July 2011, 16:10
This qualifying really begs the question:
Is Red Bull the best car now? In the races, they have been beatable but in qualifying not at all. But looking at where Webber is, it has to be said that Vettel has done the best possible job among the leading 6 drivers.
UKfanatic (@)
30th July 2011, 16:24
in this morning we saw an interesting evolution Vettel seem to be able to surpass Webber that was clearly more unconfortable today, The Ferraris and Mclarens seem very strong but they werent able to perform clean laps, Alonso 2nd lap was terrible and Hamilton simply didnt perform well on the unknown tyre, Vettel again seems like a child over expressive and over joy
maxthecat
30th July 2011, 16:31
Firstly Vettel needs to STOP saying “that’s what i’m talking about” because it’s getting annoying.
Secondly, Webber was hinting that Red Bull had stuck something on Vettel’s car he didn’t have in case you missed it.
Lastly, Brundles Jobcenter comment was classic :D
@HoHum (@hohum)
30th July 2011, 20:14
Like KERS maybe?
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
31st July 2011, 12:50
That comment was brilliant, absolute classic.
UKfanatic (@)
30th July 2011, 16:41
If Ham and Alo were able to maximize their potential they would have made the first non redbull pole and front row. Alo made 01:20.2 in q2 with 5 laps of fuel = 3 hot laps fuel if you subtract the weight he could have made fuel alone less 2 or 3 tenths. Hamilton did a great time with the primes, subtracting the usual 8 tenths or even a second we can conclude that he could have been a bit faster. Anyway it was predicted to be an redbull race and it seems at least they are the fastest in qually, dont know what happen to Webber but he seems to hate the s.soft tyre, redbull hasnt much interest in solving webber issues so, they just focus on the golden boy, the perfect marketing driver, he whines and they immediatly respond, he may be the fastest but he is a pain to watch
David-A (@david-a)
30th July 2011, 16:46
A pain to watch for those who don’t want him to win that is. That’s understandable.
DaveW
30th July 2011, 17:18
Webber seemed to have KERS issues. Surprise.
David-A (@david-a)
30th July 2011, 18:21
His team told him on the radio that KERS would be fine to use for his final run.
@HoHum (@hohum)
30th July 2011, 20:18
No David, they told him it had come alive, no charging but boost available, maybe it decided to die again or was not fully charged to begin with, half a second lost in sector 1 is way under Webbers performance potential.
91jb12 (@91jb12)
30th July 2011, 22:42
webber fans not making excuses are they, never heard that one before.
F1_fan_boy
30th July 2011, 17:16
I’m so sad. Hungary for many reasons, is one of the last chances to stop Vettel from become world champion. Lewis should have paid more attention to that last lap. I’m a Lewis and Mclaren fan, and I’m very, very sad. Please if another Mclaren fans has reasons to be opptimistic writte here, I will read. Do you think that on a dirty track like Hungaroring has any chance to take de lead in the first corner?
cesium
30th July 2011, 17:52
i don’t see why he needs to lead in first lap…that’s what he tried to do in canada…with a fresh set of options he should try to lead the last lap.just like china..
suka (@suka)
30th July 2011, 18:06
+1
mikef117
30th July 2011, 19:44
RBR were over a second faster than the rest of the field at this track last year. Now SV creeps onto pole by 1/10th of a second and Webber is 6th.
Every race this year the McLarens have been faster on Sunday than Saturday, plus LH has an extra set of supersofts for tomorrow.
So yes, McLaren fans might well be optimistic for tomorrow, and then when we come back from the month off it is Spa and Monza, both high speed tracks that should favour McLaren over RBR.
dfketr
31st July 2011, 9:07
yes last year rbr had a huge advantage – this year it has only been in qualifying because of their exhaust blown diffuser – but now the other teams have caught up. redbull only really has an advantage now in high speed turns, and there isnt many of those in hungary so they will struggle.
Sidney Vianna
30th July 2011, 18:18
Post-it note in Massa’s steering wheel just before they leave the pits to the grid: “Ferrrrnando is faster than you. Do you understand?…”
What is up with McLaren’s front wings. They are visibly stiffer than everybody’s else. All the other teams wing flex like crazy. Mc’s don’t deflect an iota. Despite it’s intricate design on the end plates, Mc’s wings are costing Lewis and Button 0.4 of a second per lap in a circuit such as The Hungaroring.
Boomerang
30th July 2011, 18:43
They’re my favorite team but their engineering crew is behaving oddly… Either they don’t understand front wing issue – as Mr. Lowe said once – or they’re just stubborn…
The truth is always somewhere in the middle.
But, they increased the pitch of the car. The splitter is leaking the tarmac at high speed. Truly sensational! The car is much better now and you can read it from Lewis’ face…
Boomerang
30th July 2011, 18:46
sorry, licking the tarmac…
Fixy (@)
30th July 2011, 18:59
I’m glad Liuzzi beat D’Ambrosio in the end.
Brian Johnson (@brian-johnson)
30th July 2011, 19:37
I’m a Hamilton fan and i’m quite disappointed he didn’t take pole,but i think he will win the race,Alonso second,Button third,Vettel fourth and Webber fifth,it’s going to be a great race,i hope the rain falls.Can’t wait :D
jl
30th July 2011, 21:49
Hamilton will take Vettel completely out of the race if not on the first corner then on the second.
Robyn
30th July 2011, 22:44
Adam Cooper posted some interesting further information about Webber’s qualifying and the work done on the cars, in case people are interested in fine-tuning their conspiracy theories at all:
Mark Webber: “It’s a pretty tough car to work on…”
91jb12 (@91jb12)
30th July 2011, 22:45
Seb fan, great to see him on pole and leave a few people with egg on their faces for 24 hours at least.
but he’ll need 77 qualy laps tomorrow.
the prospect of 2 mclarens at least chasing him, one with a slightly better strategy choice (Hamilton with the new supersofts) and both of them needing to take every chance to force the championship door ajar is exciting.
hopefully seb won’t let me down but i have doubts that he’ll get mugged at one of the 3 or 4 rounds of stops
David-A (@david-a)
31st July 2011, 4:11
Luckily, the race distance is now 70 laps ;)
Should be an exciting race between Seb, Fernando and the Mclarens.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
31st July 2011, 1:59
A great session. Nice to see Massa out qualifying Alonso but other way around Alonso will be happy as that will help him to start on the clean side of the track & here off track is very dirty.Hoping to see a good fight down to turn 1.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
31st July 2011, 12:49
Disappointing stuff from Buemi. Really happy to see Ricciardo out qualify a more established driver, congratulations to him.
Bit of a disaster from Renault, ouch.