Hamilton takes pole position for Hungarian GP
Sports Desk, Jul 31 (EFE).- British Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) on Saturday sealed his record-extending 101st pole position ahead of the Hungarian GP.
The seven-time world champion lapped the Hungaroring circuit in one minute and 15.419s, just 0.315s ahead of his teammate Valtteri Bottas of Finland.
“It’s been amazing teamwork this weekend. It’s definitely great having a lock-out for our team – the first time in a long time,” the Briton told F1 media afterwards.
The Fin, for his part, said “tomorrow will be exciting, the Red Bulls are on the soft tyres and we are on the medium, so all to play for and it’s going to be a good battle. I’m looking forward to it”.
The drivers’ standings leader Max Verstappen (Red Bull) came third .0516s off the pace, to start Sunday’s race from the second row, alongside his teammate Mexico’s Sergio Perez.
“I think the whole weekend we’ve been a bit behind and it showed in qualifying. We’re still there in P3 and we’ll see what we can do,” the Dutch said.
Verstappen will try to fend off Hamilton’s attempts to take over the top spot after the Briton cut the lead to eight points with a controversial win at the British GP.
The third row will feature Frenchman Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri) and Briton Lando Norris (McLaren) who finished the qualifying rounds fifth and sixth respectively, ahead of Monégasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and Frenchman Esteban Ocon (Alpine) who came seventh and eighth.
Spaniard Fernando Alonso (Alpine) and Germany’s Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) completed the top-10. EFE
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