Chris
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The first part of qualifying would require over an hour to complete as heavy rain and multiple red flags delayed and interrupted the session. After a promising third practice session, Renault would lose both drivers in the Q1 cutoff as conditions made the situation ultra-difficult on a rapidly drying track, however the big scalp was Felipe Massa who crashed his Williams at turn 5 after a gamble on the Intermediate tyres.
As the track continued to dry with the assistance of some sunshine, several drivers were caught out by the rate at which it dried and with poor timing of laps. Kimi Raikkonen being chief among those who got the chop after Q2. Lewis Hamilton survived a scare as he finished the session in 10th place after making a mistake on his final flying lap, but ultimately scraping through. With slick tyres now in use for the first time, the lap times continued to tumble as surprisingly, both McLaren's were able to make a Q3 appearance as both Button and Alonso displayed some very convincing pace.
The two McLaren-Honda's looked strong at the tight and twisty Hungaroring where engine power is not such a determining factor.
As the final session commenced it was Hamilton who got the better of his Mercedes teammate by just under four tenths of a second after their first flying laps had been completed. Daniel Ricciardo also looked like a good bet for pole as he lapped his Red Bull just a tenth slower than Rosberg, and given his past results around this track, a win on Sunday is most certainly on the cards.
The final minutes of the final qualifying session would be subject to investigation as nine of the ten drivers would have their laps spoiled by yellow flags in Sector Two for a spinning Fernando Alonso who got out of shape in turn nine and lost the rear end of the car. The one driver who did not have his lap completely spoiled was Nico Rosberg who was last in the queue and arrived at the scene of the accident just as the yellow flags were being withdrawn and then went on to take pole position by one tenth of a second with a lap time of 1:19.965.
Daniel Ricciardo is poised for another strong result at a track he has come to love over the years.
Due to his proximity to the yellow flags, Rosberg was subject to investigation after the session, however no further action was taken as the FIA deemed him to have lifted sufficiently in the yellow flagged sector. However, confusion was rife among teams and fans alike as many believed it contravened the rules to set a personal best sector if that sector had been subject to yellow flags. Rosberg went purple (fastest overall) in the second sector despite clearly lifting off when the yellow flags were present on his dash for a brief moment.
Before the lights go out on the Hungarian Grand Prix, the grid stands as follows:
- Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
- Carlos Sains Jr. (Toro Rosso)
- Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
- Jenson Button (McLaren)
- Nico Hulkenberg (Force India)
- Valtteri Bottas (Williams)
- Romain Grosjean (Haas)
- Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso)
- Sergio Perez (Force India)
- Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
- Esteban Gutierrez (Haas)
- Felipe Nasr (Sauber)
- Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
- Felipe Massa (Williams)
- Kevin Magnussen (Renault)
- Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
- Pascal Wehrlein (Manor)
- Rio Haryanto (Manor)
Images credit of FIA.com
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