A new tire rule was tried out in qualifying for the 11th round of the Hungarian F1 season. Valtteri Bottas, who finished seventh, and his team Alfa Romeo seemed to benefit from the novelty.
The first part of the time trial of the Hungarian GP is run on hard tire compound, the second part on medium and the last part of the top ten drivers on soft tires.
The British driver of the Mercedes team Lewis Hamilton was at a furious pace already in the 3rd practice and throttled to the first place in qualifying with the last attack with a time of 1:16.609. For the seven-time F1 world champion, the pole position was the first since 2021 and overall the 104th of his career.
Hamilton’s teammate, sixth in the World Championship points George Russell crashed badly in the opening section and only finished 18th. The traffic jam at the end partially ruined his day.
The Red Bull driver leading the World Series with 99 points Max Verstappen was close to pole again, but succumbed to the 38-year-old Hamilton by an agonizing 0.003 seconds. Team mate Sergio Perez this time I even made it into the top ten, I’m ninth in the time trials.
The McLaren, which gained more speed with the upgrade parts, had a great time in Hungary. Lando Norris was third before team mate Oscar Piastria at times 1.16.694 and 1.16.905.
Alfa Romeo, which is the second worst team in the World Championship points, having collected only nine points from the beginning of the season, was positively surprised at the Hungaroring in Budapest, when the Chinese Zhou Guanyu ranked as high as fifth and Valtteri Bottas seventh. The Finn was only 0.425 seconds behind Hamilton’s top time in qualifying.
– Positive race performance, with the tire compound we had enough speed. A very good day. Tomorrow, both cars have to score MM points. I knew we could do better on this track compared to the previous ones, but it went a little better, which I expected, Bottas told Viaplay.
Bottas noted that his final lap in qualifying was not a perfect bet.
– The new tire rule brings a little more flexibility. Fortunately, it was warm, so the tires worked well. It’s hard to overtake in Hungary, let’s try to get a good start. We have to attack right away and keep the tires in good condition afterwards, planned the Finn, who has captured five World Championship points this season.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainzwho is fifth in the World Championship, fell into the second section and was only 11th.
Hungarian GP, time trials:
1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1.16.609
2. Max Verstappen Red Bull 1.16.612
3. Lando Norris McLaren 1.16.694
4. Oscar Piastri McLaren 1.16.905
5. Guanyu Zhou Alpha Rom 1.16,971
6. Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1.16.992
7. Valtteri Bottas Alfa Rom 1.17.034
8. Fernando Alonso Aston Mo 1.17.035
9. Sergio Perez Red Bull 1.17.045
10. Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1.17.186
11. Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari
12. Esteban Ocon BWT Alpi
13. Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTau
14. Lance Stroll Aston Mon
15. Pierre Gasly BWT Alpi
16. Alexander Albon Williams
17. Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTau
18. George Russell Mercedes
19. Kevin Magnussen’s Haas
20. Logan Sargeant Williams
Drivers’ and teams’ World Cup points standings