Due to the risk of rain, everyone rushed out at the beginning of the first session. The pecking order seemed to have changed from that in Austria. Mercedes were still the leading team by far, but "the pink Mercedes cars" (i.e. the Racing Points) turned out to be the Silver Arrows' closest rivals. After the first runs Charles was 5th, followed by Red Bull's Verstappen. It was a bit unexpected to see Red Bull struggling at Hungaroring, which has suited very well for the energy drink team in the previous years. Somehow the RB16 seemed restless and unstable in the hands of both Verstappen and Albon. Actually the Thai driver was even more in trouble with the car, being in poor P15, as there were five minutes remaining in the clock. Sebastian was in P9, a whole second down on pace-setting Bottas. Red Bull being the team to stand out in negative light, I have to say, that Williams were responsible for the most positive surprise in the qualifying. Russell jumped third with three minutes remaining! In the closing stages the pink Mercedes went fastest, Perez having the upper hand of the pink-suited teammates. Hamilton was third, followed by the McLarens of Norris and Sainz. Sebastian was in promising P6 in Q1. Worth noting is the fact, that Russell's teammate Latifi, too made it into Q2 today! What a leap forward Williams have taken! Out of the second session were both Haas cars, both Alfa Romeos and AlphaTauri's Kvyat. It broke my heart to see Kimi in the penultimate P20. Alfa Romeo are head over heels in trouble at the moment.
Q2 saw interesting gamble in terms of the tyre strategy. I mean it was quite expected to see the Mercedes come out on the medium Pirellis, but surprisingly, they were accompanied by both Racing Points and both Renaults. In spite of the harder rubber, Hamilton went fastest. Teammate Bottas wasn't quite able to take the fight to his teammate, as the Finn was two tenths shy of the Briton. Sebastian in third was unbelievable eight tenths down on the storming Briton, in spite of having set his lap time on the red-marked soft compound! Charles' first attempt left a lot to hope for, and the Monegasque was only in P10 after his first run. I don't know, whether it told about Ferrari's missing pace or William's impressive development, that Charles in the knock-out zone was edging Russell by two hundredths of a second only! The Racing Points made a risky move, opting for the medium rubber also at the end of the session, whilst everyone else relied on the soft tyre wear. Perez proved unable to improve his lap time in the end, but the Mexican's place in the top ten turned out to be secured. Verstappen jumped third in the dying minutes of Q2, and the Dutchman was followed by Charles in his SF1000 and Norris in his McLaren. The highest profile casualty in the second session was Red Bull's Albon, who had to settle for disappointing P13. In addition to the Red Bull driver, also Renault duo of Ricciardo and Ocon and the Williams duo of Russell and Latifi were knocked out of the final segment.
Q3 marked the first time, that both red cars were among the ten fastest this season. Hamilton's first run seemed like "a walk in the park", the Briton nailing provisional pole by three tenths to his teammate. More surprising was to see Racing Point's Stroll in third! Nevertheless, the Canadian was a massive second off Hamilton's pace. Verstappen was fourth, with the McLaren duo in fifth and sixth. Sebastian was in P7, 1.6s down on the provisional pole-setter. However, both Ferrari aces had set their fastest lap times on a used set of soft tyres. So there was more to come from the Ferraris on their second attempt. The last flyers saw Sebastian jump fourth and Charles fifth, but unfortunately Perez dropped both of them a position down on his last flyer. Hamilton took one and a half tenths off from his lap time on his final run. Bottas was only a couple of hundredths down on his teammate in the first two sectors, but in the end, he ended up a tenth slower than his teammate. The pecking order was straightforward: Mercedes conquered the first row easily, and the second row was locked down by "the pink Mercedes", Stroll pipping his teammate. It was a delight to see the red cars on the third row! At least there's some light at the end of the tunnel for the red team! I was happy to see Sebastian again taking his teammate's sculp. Verstappen was left in P7 in his badly-behaving RB16. Norris, Sainz and AlphaTauri's Gasly rounded out the top ten.
Today's pole marked not only Hamilton's 90th career pole but also his 7th pole at Hungaroring! The Briton now equals legendary Michael Schumacher's record of most pole positions at Hungaroring. In spite of the 90 percent risk of rain, the conditions stayed dry till the end of the qualifying. No one knows, what the weather turns out tomorrow, when the lights go out in the afternoon. If it stays dry, the tyre strategy will certainly play an interesting role. The red-suited drivers on the third row are the first drivers to start to the race on the soft Pirellis, whilst the top four will start on the more durable medium compound. I have to say I'm a bit worried about Ferrari's race pace, no matter how good a start Sebastian and Charles get. Without a doubt, Verstappen will attack like a tiger from P7. One thing is for sure: whether it's dry or wet, the battle for victory will be between the Mercedes drivers. I keep my fingers crossed, that tomorrow will be a successful day for the red team, Sebastian in particular. All the best for my favourite driver! Forza Ferrari!
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