It wasn't raining at the moment, when Q1 got underway, but the track was still damp after a shower earlier in the afternoon. The conditions were challenging, as the track was partly dry and partly damp. Especially the third sector was quite dry already. Everyone headed out on the green-walled intermediate tyres. Ferrari seemed to control the pace, as Kimi went fastest on his first flyer, followed by Sebastian. One by one all teams called their drivers in for a fresh set of ultra-soft tyres. However, there was still a malicious looking group of clouds threatening to spill their contents on the Hungaroring. Red Bull's Ricciardo was the sole driver to come out on the yellow-walled soft Pirellis, but the Australian's lap times were everything but competitive. The rain held off, and the conditions kept improving towards the end of the session. Sebastian topped the timesheets, with Red Bull's Verstappen second and the Mercedes pairing of Bottas and Hamilton P3 and P4. In spite of the tyre choice, Ricciardo managed to make P12 and get through into Q2. Q1 victims were McLaren's Alonso, Sauber's Leclerc (whilst teammate Ericsson made it Q2 this time!), the Force India pairing of Ocon and Perez and Williams' Sirotkin.
Q2 was all about making the right tyre call. Ferrari had made a genius move by sending Sebastian out on the intermediate tyres, whilst everyone else headed out on the slicks. The first two sectors were almost dry, but it was raining heavily in the last sector. It was so soaking-wet at the back of the track, that everyone had to switch onto the intermediates. The conditions kept worsening lap by lap, as the track turned wetter and wetter. Due to the team's genius move, Sebastian had been the first man on track on the intermediates, and the German had set an unbeatable lap time; in spite of reporting, that he had gone aquaplaning in the last corner. The conditions were so slippery, that driving was like tip-toeing around the corners. Williams' Stroll lost control of his FW41 and spun, braking his front wing. Yellow flags ruined the lap for Ricciardo, and the Australian was the big name casualty in Q2. Kimi, too had a scary moment of his own, as the Iceman spun in the chicane. Luckily Kimi managed to keep his SF71-H off the walls and was able to continue. At the end of the session it was already pouring with rain. Many midfield teams sent their drivers out on the full-wets, but improving lap time was a mission impossible. Thanks to Ferrari's genius tyre call, Sebastian was topping the timesheets, and the surprise name Sainz in P2 was already two seconds off Sebastian's pace! McLaren's Alonso was the first faller in Q2, accompanied by Renault's Hulkenberg, Sauber's Ericsson and Williams' Stroll (+ above mentioned Ricciardo).
Q3 was heavily hampered by rain. Full-wets was the right call for the extremely wet conditions. After the first flying laps Hamilton was topping the timesheets, with teammate Bottas second, only 87 thousandths of a second down on the Briton. Kimi was third and Red Bull's Verstappen fourth. The shootout for pole saw many flying laps on the same set of tyres. Kimi really shone in the tricky conditions; especially the Iceman's third sector was absolutely magical! When there were only four minutes remaining in the clock, Kimi had pole position firmly in his grasp. The Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Bottas pitted at the end of the session for a fresh set of full-wet Pirellis. And it was Hamilton, who rose to the occasion and took pole away from teammate Bottas, who in turn had snatched it from Kimi in the dying moments of the qualifying! Mercedes, who had been struggling with their balance in dry conditions, managed to turn the advantage towards them in the wet qualifying by conquering the front row! Kimi had set an excellent time in sector one on his final run on fresh full-wets, but had hit traffic (one of the Haas cars), which prevented the Iceman to improve his lap time. Such a shame, as it would have been a dream come true to see Kimi on pole for the first time since Monaco 2017! The second row was locked down by the red cars; P4 is Sebastian's worst on-track performance of 2018. The Scuderia drivers were half-a-second off Hamilton's pace. Sainz qualified fifth for Renault, and Toro Rosso´s Gasly was the impressive sixth. Although Red Bull's performance had seemed very competitive in the free practice sessions, Verstappen had to be content with tame P7, followed by Toro Rosso's Hartley and the Haas pairing of Magnussen and Grosjean.
The weather forecast predicts, that it should be a dry race. Let's see, if the dry conditions turn the advantage back towards Ferrari. Overtaking is known to be a challenge at Hungaroring, so it all comes down to a good start. Due to wet qualifying, all teams are free to choose their tyres for the start, so it will be interesting to see, whether there will be variety in terms of the tyre strategy. One thing is for sure; Sebastian needs to finish the race ahead of title rival Hamilton, in order to close the gap in the championship standings. And this time Sebastian can't afford making any mistakes! A victory by the Red Team would be the perfect way to honour the memory of the late CEO of Ferrari, Sergio Marchionne, who passed away on July 25th. Forza Ferrari!
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