F1: Mercedes Lockout Front Row At Hungary As Hamiton Storms To Pole

Lewis Hamilton dominated the qualifying session of the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix to take the pole position for this Sunday. Mercedes-Benz secured the front row as Valtteri Bottas qualified second, while title rival Max Verstappen of Red Bull had to settle for third. Q3 saw Hamilton set a pace of 1m15.419s, which was enough for the driver to claim his eighth pole at the Hungaroring. Bottas was over one-tenths behind Hamilton, while Verstappen set a time, 0.421s adrift from the Mercedes driver.

Lewis Hamilton drove slowly through the pitlane with Max Verstappen at the back in right before the second and final Q3 runs

Verstappen set the norm in Q1 and Q2 on softs, while Hamilton and Bottas got through on medium tyres. But Hamilton led the way with Q3, which Verstappen was unable to match. Ahead of the second and final Q3 runs, Verstappen left the garage right behind Hamilton who drove slowly on the pitlane and then later in the warm-up tour as he stayed ahead of the Red Bull.

With the clock ticking, Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull missed setting a final Q3 lap, while Verstappen could improve his time only a tenth. Nevertheless, Perez holds on to fourth behind his teammate.

Starting fifth is Pierre Gasly in the AlphaTauri with a brilliant lap, who beat McLaren's Lando Norris, while Charles Leclerc starts sixth. Alpine duo of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso make it to P8 and P9 with Sebastian Vettel in the Aston Martin rounding up the top 10.

Pierre Gasly was the fifth fastest after the Mercedes and Red Bull drivers, followed by Lando Norris in the McLaren

Daniel Ricciardo in the McLaren starts in P11 tomorrow ahead of Aston Martin's Lance Stroll. Alfa Romeo duo Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi start from P13 and P14 respectively, while Carlos Sainz Jr. in the second Ferrari will start from P15.

Yuki Tsunoda in the AlphaTauri took P16, ahead of Williams drivers George Russell and Nicholas Latifi. Nikita Mazepin of Haas qualified last, whereas his teammate Mick Schumacher could not qualify as his car could not be repaired in time after the FP3 crash.